


Bunkmates

by mother_bread



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, F/F, Summer Camp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-05 07:21:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 40,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3111047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mother_bread/pseuds/mother_bread
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summer Camp AU:  "You will all find proper bunkmate etiquette in your counselor guidelines booklet, although all of us having gone through at least a year of college should know the proper living-with-someone-else etiquette.  Let’s hope."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Summer camp AU. Events in the canon series are irrelevant, but characters are not. First fic I've written in a very long time. I can only hope that my writing has improved since HSM fic of yesteryear. Of course I should be doing things like writing real stories or scripts I can use to find jobs or that will be relevant in a portfolio or of possible monetary value, but of course that's not the case and I am trash. Enjoy, Creampuffs.

Already high in the air, the sun relentlessly beats down, not a cloud in sight for it to take shelter behind.  Even the small breeze can’t help the heat waves cooking the earth.  A man made lake sits peacefully, the water undisturbed by the sun’s rays. Tall trees knock into each other from the soft wind, creating a light rustling sound.  It’s almost the most ideal summer day.

Wheels come to a screeching halt, gravel and small stones groaning underneath the thick rubber. The engine stays running as the door opens, and two petite feet plop down from the passenger seat and onto the terrain. The door slams shut just as quickly as it was opened.

Laura Hollis, short in nature, but fierce in spirit, sucks in a large breath of the summer day and surrounding wilderness.  Her eyes closed, she smiles and lets out a content sigh of bliss. 

“Now, Laura, honey, are you sure you don’t want me to come in with you?  Help you get settled in?  I don’t want you getting lost just trying to find your bunk and check in.” Her father’s voice slices through the humid air, disturbing Laura’s current state of tranquility. She opens her eyes and turns around to face her father, who lugs her suitcase out from the Jeep. She can’t help but smile at his puppy dogface. 

“Dad, I’ll be fine. With Perry as my boss, you can be assured nothing can possibly go wrong.”

Mr. Hollis’ expression relents only slightly. “Okay, just remember all the defensive techniques and emergency procedures we went through last night.” He prompts her to recite them once more.

Laura sighs. “‘Check behind all doors before proceeding anywhere, circle the cabin three times at night, but before we lose daylight, tap two sticks together before bed so the mountain lions don’t eat me.’ Dad.  Big girl now, okay?”

Mr. Hollis nods quietly, diverting his attention to anywhere but Laura’s way, a worried and pained expression still plastered across his face.  He looks at his daughter.  “You’re so grown up, sweetie.”  He forces a smile, but it’s genuine, Laura can tell. “You look so much like your mother.”

There’s a moment of comfortable silence after that, Laura holding her father’s hands in her own.  She gazes into his eyes and sees the worry and fear, but also an insane amount of pride and love.  For a second, she's sure he's going to burst into tears. One more moment passes before Mr. Hollis envelops his baby into a bear hug.  The air is nearly squeezed out of Laura, but she’s used to it by now. A good few minutes pass by before he finally lets go and pecks her on the forehead.

“I’ll see you at the end of the summer,” Laura reassures him, once again, for what seems like the thousandth time that day.

“August 22nd,” he quips. “And not a second after.”

 Mr. Hollis quickly jogs back around to the driver’s side door and starts up the car. He rolls down the window so he can say one last goodbye.

 “If anything should happen at all, you call me immediately.  Understood?”

 Laura chuckles to herself. “Of course dad.  You’ll be the first to know.”

 Laura’s surprised at how fast her father spins out of the drop off drive. One last smile and wave does the trick and with that, the taillights are quickly sucked into the forested path towards civilization.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The lights are off but the glow from the radiant sun shines through the open windows illuminating the space quite nicely. Fans blast in every other corner of the lobby, the few camp employees who have already arrived stand huddled around them.  They fan themselves with makeshift paper fans, hoping to circulate some of the stuffy air.

Lola Perry sits upright at her makeshift check-in desk, stationed perfectly centered in the Welcome Lobby.  Her papers are organized into neat piles, clipped together by color-coordinated paper clips. She frowns and straightens up a single pen that seemed to have become out of line with her other writing utensils.

 “That’s better,” she mutters to herself, smiling and pleased with her work.  She folds her hands in front of her and looks up, ready for her incoming counselors.

 Suddenly, the sound of pots and pans being dropped rings through the echo-friendly room, causing Perry to nearly jump out of her seat and those in the lobby to turn their heads. She screeches a bit before realizing what the source of the sound most likely came from.  Perry recomposes herself and rolls her eyes in annoyance as LaFontaine comes stumbling out of the kitchen.

 “Hey Perr, these cookies just came fresh from the oven, I swiped a few before the kitchen squad jumped on my back.  Here! Try a bite.” LaFontaine extends her cookie-laced hand out for their friend to try.  Perry shoves it away and makes a face. 

“Those are for orientation purposes only Su—” She quickly stops herself. “LaFontaine. They’re for the counselors.”

LaF frowns. “But I am a counselor.  As are you. So shouldn’t you be eating more of these delicious delectables?” They take another bite from the freshly cooked confection. “Mmm, amazing.  You’ll have to get me the recipe.” 

“Stop that, give that to me, Susan, I swear –”

“Laura!”

Perry whips around and her irritation quickly dissipates upon seeing her friend and first counselor to arrive.  She quickly forgets LaF and the stolen cookies to envelope her friend in a warm hug.

“You’re here!” Perry exclaims.

“How long did it take your dad to leave?” LaF asks, amused.

“He actually did pretty okay, surprisingly so.  No tears this time.” 

“Well, that’s all fine and dandy.  Laura, let’s get you all checked in and your paperwork done.”  Perry flips through her organized packets of paper, all quite large and enough to at least have taken up half a ream of paper.  She frowns and brushes off cookie crumbs disturbing her perfect check in table.

“This place looks awesome, Perr,” Laura fawns.  “What a great summer gig.  Although that heat makes me feel like I’m going to get real chummy with that lake.” 

“Believe me, you will. I hope you brought a fan,” LaF interjects before mouthing, ‘There’s no AC.’ 

But Laura waves it off with a smirk. “Wouldn’t be real summer camp if there was air conditioning, right?”

LaF and Perry both just stare back at her with frowns and puzzled faces. They both shake their head ‘No.’ 

“Oh c’mon you guys! Adventure awaits!” Laura’s enthusiasm is relentless. Perry and LaF exchange slightly worried looks. “This summer is going to be the best I’ve had in a long time. I get to mentor kids, enjoy the fresh outdoors, sleep under the stars, and do it with two of my best friends! What could go wrong?” 

Suddenly, the door bursts open with a bang, the swinging screen door helplessly hanging on after the abuse.  If LaF’s early scene didn’t cause enough for people’s attention, the newest arrival does the trick, as all eyes turn towards the newcomers.  Black thigh high boots demand authority as they stomp across the tile. A slender young woman with a jaw line that could cut diamonds, clad in what has to be insanely hot leather pants, and low cut black racer back tank top leads the pack, a dark haired boy with matching dark attire bringing up the rear, a pair of dark sunglasses shading his face.

The lobby goes silent as they watch the pair approach Perry’s table.

“Carmilla and William Karnstein,” the young woman says in a low and extremely unenthused tone, removing her own shades from her face.  Dark brown eyes dart from LaF, Perry and Laura, her eyes lingering for a moment longer on the last.  Her nostrils flare before looking back at Perry.  Laura feels a series of chills slink down her spine as she lets out an audible gulp before busying herself with her welcome packet and away from the pair. 

“I’m sorry, did I stutter?” Carmilla snaps at Perry who’s still terrified and transfixed on the brother-sister and their entrance.  She shakes herself out of the trance and dives for her paperwork.

“Yes, yes of course. Karnstein, the-the-the owner’s kids.” She shuffles through her paperwork, somehow just going through circles, flipping through the same packets over and over again.  Carmilla crosses her arms, sighing with annoyance as her brother watches mindlessly from behind her, tapping his foot with impatience. Perry finally settles on two welcome packets with triumph and hands them to the siblings.  

“Here are your welcome packets.  No need to fill out any paperwork.  Seems to already been done for you.” 

“Of course it has.” Will finally speaks, a smirk spreading across his face. He glances down briefly at his welcome packet and scoffs.  “Let’s go.” The two spin on their heels and head back towards the way they came. 

“Orientation starts at three sharp!” Perry yells after them, the usual shrill confidence in her voice absent.  She isn’t sure if they hear her, but by the way they threw their welcome packets in the nearest trash, she knows anything she says is going to be helpless.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Carmilla and Will scamper down the steps of the building, quickly shading their eyes once more with their glasses and carelessly tossing their trees of paper into the wastebasket. Will clings to his forehead and winces in pain as the hot rays beat down on him.  The two siblings make a quick beeline for the edge of the shaded forest. 

“Do you think mommy dearest was using her 500 year old brain at all when she decided to send us to a _summer camp_?” 

Carmilla doesn’t immediately respond as she takes in her surroundings.  She turns to her brother who is huddled over in pain. “Wit dies with age, you’re a prime example of that, William."

Will looks up at his sister and rolls his eyes.  He places his hand on his chest, feigning offense. “Ouch, was that meant to be menacing?”

“Shut up. We need to get out of here.” Carmilla starts deeper into the woods, leaving the all too sunshine and smiles camp behind her.

Will frowns and stands up, and follows his sister, leaves and branches crunching under his feet. “Leave?  I’d like to see you try, babe.”

Carmilla pauses, but only briefly before continuing on the unmarked path.  “Is that supposed to be some empty threat mother told you to try on me if I tried to flee?”

Will shrugs and quips back, “Nah, my dying brain came up with that one on my own. Did you honestly think mother wouldn’t have covered all her bases?  She might be old but she’s not an idiot.”  
  
Carmilla ignores her brother’s taunts, still adamant about putting more and more distance between her and the hauntingly happy campgrounds. Her brother doesn’t say another word; it’s something that normally Carmilla would have noted as strange, but at the present time doesn’t give much thought to.

Her trek through the woods continues, Will silently following behind her with a large wooden stick, hitting trees and leaves along the way.  She replays the day’s events through her head, from being shuffled out of bed against her will to the lingering look she left on the fair haired girl at the check in table.  The feeling had been unlike anything she had ever felt before, no matter how slight and fleeting it had been, and Carmilla wasn’t even entirely sure if it was anything at all.

 _Nothing.  It was probably nothing,_ she tells herself. _No, it was definitely nothing_.

Suddenly, the thoughts of the small girl vanish entirely from her brain as she is stopped in her tracks.  Literally. She frowns and looks up at the empty space in front of her, puzzled as to what could possibly be preventing her from taking another step forward.  She tries once more to take another step, but it’s as if an invisible wall stops her from going any farther.

Will cackles from behind her and hits the invisible force field with his stick. “Oh, mommy dearest. Always playing hands from her bag of tricks.”

Carmilla hits her hand against her confinement with anger and irritation. She turns around slumps down against it, her bottom meeting the forest floor with a thud.  Her head falls into her hands, a sigh of desperation only metaphorically carrying her misery away from her.

“Look Carmilla, I’m just as thrilled about mission impossible as the next brooding vampire, but you and I both know mother, all too well, I might add.”  Will tries his best to find comforting words for his sister, but hardly anything comes to mind. “So, let’s just get this over with and get the hell out of here, kapeesh?”

Carmilla finally looks up from her hands.  Will has his arm outstretched, offering to help her up from the dirty terrain. There’s a moment’s hesitation before she reluctantly takes it, and hoists herself up, standing tall next to her brother.

“So what’s your brilliant plan, ace?  Go around killing kids until one of them appeases our loving mother?  She wasn’t exactly specific when she gave us our orders.”

Will frowns, scratching his head.  He nods slightly, considering it. The frown is quickly replaced by a smirk. “Not a bad plan.  That’s why you’re the brains of this operation.”

Carmilla rolls her eyes, and starts the unwanted trek back to the disgustingly sunny and happy campgrounds. Will follows her, much like a puppy dog moping after his master.  “We aren’t killing kids at random.  We’ll figure it out.  In the meantime, just lay low. It’s not like either one of us actually want to be here anyway.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

A small crowd of about six gather in the stuffy cafeteria.  All the windows are open as wide as can be as fans work overtime to circulate the stuffy air out of the building.  A tall, burly boy named Brody Kirsch, entertains himself with a game on his phone, letting out random bursts of laughter.  Perry paces back and forth, muttering nervously to herself as LaFontaine and Laura sit stretched out on a close by table, trying desperately to keep cool.   

Danny Lawrence, a tall, athletically built redhead steals glances over at the pair, while trying to stay engrossed in a conversation with her equally tall friend, Sam. At one point, Laura catches her doing so, causing her to quickly turn back towards Sam, a red flush creeping at her cheeks, matching marvelously with her hair. 

“You should introduce yourself, she’s cute,” Sam coos, nodding in the direction of Laura and LaFontaine.  Danny looks over her shoulder once again; Laura has gone back to her conversation with LaF, but is in the middle of a hearty laugh.  Danny can’t help but smile at what she can only imagine is infectious laughter.

“Summer flings are always hot as hell,” Sam adds, nudging at Danny once more. Danny looks at Laura again and shrugs. 

“I don’t know, she doesn’t strike me as the kinky type.  I think I would feel guilty if I stopped responding to texts or something.” 

Sam rolls her eyes. “Who cares?  Go, go, goooooo.” 

Sam practically pushes her friend out of her seat and in the direction towards Laura and LaF. Danny doesn’t put up much of as struggle, other than the quiet, repeated, “Okay.”  She stumbles over to their table, and the pair looks up immediately.  Danny catches Laura doing a subtle, but quick once over before her eyes land on her own and she flashes her a large grin.  Danny feels awkward standing over Laura and LaFontaine, and takes it upon herself to slide into the seat next to Laura. 

“Hey,” Danny greets the pair cheerfully, any ounce of nervousness long gone, or at least concealed very well.  Laura and LaF return the cordial greeting and introduce themselves.  Danny points behind her towards Sam, who pretends to be engrossed in her non-service-receiving phone.  “Sam, my friend, thought I should come over and introduce myself. Danny.” 

Her eyes lock on Laura’s, who doesn’t look away, much to Danny’s surprise. She raises an eyebrow and smiles. Laura finally blushes and looks down. 

“So how’d you two –” 

Danny is cut short by Perry’s shrill scream, permeating the stuffy cafeteria. In a flash, LaFontaine is up and out of their chair and immediately trying to console her, or at least figure out what’s got Perry’s britches in a bunch.  She starts hyperventilating and fanning herself with her clipboard. 

Danny looks back and forth between Laura and the pair at the front of the cafeteria, LaF trying to calm Perry down.  She frowns with confusion, trying to figure out what the hell is going on and wondering why nobody else, or at least Laura, is at the least bit concerned. 

Laura waves her off with a bunched up face. “She’ll be fine.  She’s probably just stressed that it’s 3:12 and we haven’t started this orientation thing.” 

Danny nods in complete understanding, emitting a soft, “Ahh, I see” along the way, before finally piping up with, “So, Laura Hollis.  How did you become roped into one of the classic summer clichés of becoming every young adult’s dream job?”  Her tone is light, almost playful and just a bit flirty, keeping in mind Sam’s original intent of shoving her off to talk to Laura in the first place.

“Believe it or not, Perry actually dragged me into this.  I shouldn’t say ‘dragged’ honestly, I’m more than thrilled to be here. Roasting marshmallows, telling scary ghost stories with flashlights, canoeing under the stars.” A dreamy looks spreads across Laura’s face, and for a moment she’s taken out of the stuffy cafeteria and thinking about all the summer possibilities the next two and half months have in store for her.

“Don’t forget the lack of air, all the prepubescent teens, and stench of major B.O. that’s about to permeate this place,” Danny jokes, getting a decent laugh out of Laura. Danny just stares at her for a moment, before softly adding, “You’ve really got this whole summer camp thing quite romanticized, don’t you?”

Laura shrugs. “I watch a lot of movies.  A girl can dream, can’t she?” 

“Of course. I for one find it absolutely adorable. This summer will be fun, Hollis.” 

They share a moment, but their temporary silence is comfortable, unlike anything that usually comes with a break in conversation with someone you just met. Danny’s eyes shift around, landing on Sam who has taken a break from fake texting to usher her friend on. She rolls her eyes in response to her friend and turns back to Laura. 

“Hey, I don’t mean to sound forward or anything, but I was wondering if maybe sometime –” 

Disappointment flashes across both girls’ faces as Perry, who at this point is red from a combination of the heat and sheer frustration and stress, interrupts Danny’s proposition.  She takes a stand front and center as LaF rushes off back to their seat next to Laura. Danny waves a silent good bye to Laura and rejoins Sam.

“Attention, attention!” It really doesn’t take much for Perry to wrangle the attention of her five fellow counselors, all of whom were already impatiently waiting and not doing much mingling, aside from Laura and Danny. 

“Great, now that everyone has settled down, I’d like to get started.  I first want to start off by apologizing for starting so late, I’m still waiting on our last two counselors to report back, but that’s not important.”  Laura can tell that the lack of her full squad of counselors is driving Perry senseless and she glances over at the screen door, seeing if the two dark haired siblings from earlier were at least within spitting distance.  

Laura can’t help the gnawing feeling at the back of gut that that reason alone wasn’t the sole reason she was searching for the siblings in the first place. Her earlier, and very brief encounter with them had not been memorable by any standards, but the feeling that the young woman had given her with the side eye wasn’t going away. Laura, unable to place the feeling and shaking it out of her head for the time being, reverts her attention back to Perry, who mutters something about bunk assignments and counselor guidelines. 

Just as Laura’s full attention is back on Perry, the familiar noise of a door being flung open and a helpless screen door hanging on for dear life echoes through the mess hall. The hard footsteps of Carmilla’s combat boots once again echo against the cheap floor tiling as she makes her way toward the small group with Will, once again just a pace behind her. Laura’s head turns only slightly to catch a glimpse at the two, annoyance for yet another grand entrance and interruption being the only feeling she gets from the pair. 

“Our sincerest apologies for our tardiness,” Carmilla drawls as she remains completely unfazed by their rudeness.  Laura rolls her eyes at the lack of any actual sincerity to the sentiment. “We swear it won’t happen again.” 

Laura is pretty sure everyone in the hall knows that’s far from the truth. Perry’s frustration from earlier, however, has seemed to dissipate as she looks at Carmilla and Will, who have now seated themselves far behind the rest of the group at a separate table. Laura swears she sees a flash of fear in Perry’s usually neurotic eyes. 

“Not a bother, I was just getting started anyway.  But let’s just try and keep the lateness to a minimum…” Perry trails off toward the end as she glances back down quickly at her notes. “Let’s see, um, where were we…? Right, bunk assignments.”  She flips through a few papers before relishing the one she’s been searching for. “Your bunk assignments are unchanging for the remaining period unless the proper procedures are dealt with through myself and the camp director.  You will all find proper bunk mate etiquette in your counselor guidelines booklet, put together by yours truly, although all of us having gone through at least a year of college should know the proper living-with-someone-else etiquette. Let’s hope. 

“If any problems should arise, try and talk it through and then come to me with any further requests. If the problem cannot be resolved, then well, we have a bigger issue on our hands.  Moving on.  There are only eight counselors this year and four separate cabins; each cabin comes equipped with two twin-sized beds, wardrobes and a shared bathroom. As counselors and mentors, not a whole lot time needs to be spent indoors as we need to be accessible for activities and promoting an active time here at Camp Morte.  I will actively be pushing you to interact and stand as well rounded role models for our young campers.” 

Carmilla lets out an obnoxiously audible yawn and gazes down at her fingernails in boredom. Laura rolls her eyes and is positive that last bit was meant exclusively for Carmilla.

“Right, anyway. Bunk assignments. LaF, you’re with me. Danny and Sam, Kirsch and William, and Laura and Carmilla.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The screen door slowly creaks open, much different than the usual burst through the door Carmilla typically enters by.  Laura lugs her suitcase up the two steps leading up to the small cabin.  The air temperature inside the small enclosure is not much cooler than the outdoors; if anything the closed windows and confined space probably make it much warmer. 

Neither girl dares to breathe a word or even a sound to each other as they enter and set their things down on opposite sides of the increasingly small space, Carmilla practically throwing her large sack down to the ground and plopping lazily down onto the rather lumpy and uncomfortable mattress, not before cracking her window and fiercely shutting the drapes attached to her small window. She closes her eyes and breathes in the musty air. 

Laura sets her wheeled suitcase at the foot of the bed and goes to explore the small bathroom attached to their living quarters.  It’s as basic as a bathroom can get equipped with a standing shower, toilet and sink. She shuts the light off and turns around back into their living space, for the first time noticing Carmilla sprawled on her bed, supposedly snoozing.  Laura can’t help but roll her eyes once more as she bends down to start emptying her suitcase into the small provided wardrobe.

Of course she would get stuck with the brooding, unenthused, non-empathetic, apathetic one of the bunch.  Hell, she’d even take bunking with her quiet brother, Will, than her any day.  How was she supposed to enjoy the summer of her life with such a nuisance of a bunkmate?  She groans in frustration, not really noting how loud and whiny she is becoming. 

“Don’t worry, Laura,” she mutters to herself. “Perry said little time would be spent in our bunks anyway.  Don’t have to put up with her when I’m fast asleep now, do I?”  She, almost angrily, starts throwing articles of clothing into a drawer. 

“If you have some anger issues with me, don’t take it out on the socks.” Carmilla’s voice cuts through the air like a knife, a bit drawling with a hint of sarcasm and annoyance. Laura grimaces, tossing her clothes into the drawer even harder. 

“What do you read minds now too?  Along with the raw desire of making a scene every time you enter a room?”

“You talking to yourself is not as quiet as you think, sweetheart.

Laura turns on her heel to face her aggravating bunkmate, whose eyes are still irritatingly sewn shut.  Laura can’t help but feel increasingly more annoyed at how peaceful Carmilla looks just lying on her bed. “Talking to myself does not involve anyone but myself, thank you very much.”

“If it’s in my space, of course it involves me.”

Laura grits her teeth in sheer frustration and tenses up.  Heat rushes to her cheeks as Laura can feel herself boiling from Carmilla’s seemingly blasé attitude.  She can feel herself doing that childish thing when kids don’t get what they want and try to hold their breath for as long as they can in defiance. Carmilla opens her eyes and sits up, chuckling softly to herself at Laura’s current state of being.

“What?!” Laura hisses in irritation, finally letting out her breath and sucking in as much air as possible. Carmilla struts over to Laura, and playfully slaps her on the right cheek.

“Relax. Don’t want to pop any blood vessels in that pretty little face of yours now, do we?”

Carmilla laughs to herself as she retreats to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. The sound of the showerhead turning on echoes from behind the thin door.  Laura’s hand creeps up to where Carmilla’s had been only moments before, a light tingling sensation left behind.  She groans and face plants right into her terribly uncomfortable pillow.

A muffled groan followed by a small, “Ow” comes from between her face and the pillow.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

It’s that time of the day that nobody ever wants to see unless they have no choice or for some reason enjoys waking before any sane human being.  Not even the crickets or chirp of early morning birds can be heard, only the quiet rustling of trees and soft splash of small waves against the lakefront.   

Heavy breathing and running shoes rhythmically patting down hard on the uneven terrain interrupt the quiet dawn.  Laura, hair thrown up in a messy ponytail with wisps of loose hair hanging at the side of her face and bright green ear buds wedged in her ears, keeps a steady pace along a small dirt trail weaving in and out of the woods and campgrounds. The air is light, still a bit stuffy but much cooler than the previous day.  She keeps her breathing to a shallow rhythm as so to increase her stamina. Her fast moving feet attempt to take her and her mind off anything clouding her mind, leaving her with only her thoughts.

Laura had woken only moments earlier with a start, jolting awake from a very peculiar dream she had been dozing on.  She swore it involved some sort of large black animal, but she wasn’t able to make out exactly what it had been.  She figured it was probably some sort of animal native to the surrounding woods and could only hope that the surrounding wooden fence could keep away any threat.

Carmilla had been gone when Laura found herself unable to fall back asleep for a few more hours. Not that it worried her or peaked her interest by any means; the pair hadn’t said another word to one another after Carmilla had taken a shower earlier that afternoon. Groggy eyed and feeling as though her brain was cluttered with a million and a half thoughts, Laura had dug through her clothing, changed into a pair of athletic shorts and a sports bra, and headed out into the dark morning.

And now here she was. Running to take her mind off things, running to stay in tip top shape, running to give her the ultimate high.

She slows her pace when the dark camp buildings and clearing come into view. Her pace changes from a jog to a trot to straight up walking.  Laura takes in her surroundings, trying to steady her heart rate and breathing in the tranquility of those early hours.  There are no lights illuminating any of the buildings other than the outdoor porch fixtures that stay on all through the night.  Laura glances over towards the calm lake, a very small glimmer of the day’s rising sun just barely peaking over the treetops. She’s about to turn away and head back up towards her cabin to wash up for the day when she notices a dark figure settled on the edge of the dock just some yards away on the sandy shore. She squints through the semi-darkness and realizes it is Carmilla.

Laura scoffs, but momentarily contemplates on going over to her bunkmate and trying to make amends, to start off on a better foot.  She didn’t really get what exactly it was that made Carmilla dislike her, but she really figured that it was just her general, negative and apathetic attitude that stemmed her passive hostility. Laura wasn’t even sure that Carmilla didn’t really like her in the first place.  She was just positive that she had certain distaste for her negative attitude; it really didn’t help Laura’s relatively chipper attitude towards her upcoming summer. 

She finally decides against it and starts the trek back toward her cabin to wash up. She briefly glances over her shoulder to see Carmilla still unmoving in the same spot.  Laura shakes her head and walks across the silent campus, the faint chirping of birds just starting to sing into the morning air.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Carmilla hears Laura’s running footsteps way before Laura had paused so many yards behind her.  She remains sitting on the dock, daring not to move and breathing quite shallow so maybe she wouldn’t see her.  She can feel her presence, even with the empty space distancing them.  She tries to will her away with her mind, but of course she knows it’s a stupid idea.

Carmilla continues to gaze across the water, her feet dangling off the dock. A ripple of small waves bounces away from her as she lightly dips her bare foot on the surface of the calm lake. She looks down at her lap and sighs, a pained expression starting to form on her sharp face as thoughts of her mother and the task ahead of her dance into her brain.

She feels small and helpless, weighed down by silly pressures put onto her by her mother, similar pressures parents put on their children to get the best grades or be the best at soccer.

Only those didn’t usually involve felonies.  And they weren’t impossible tasks either. 

Achieving high marks was fairly simple with hard work and how difficult could kicking a ball into a net be?  Carmilla would have given anything to trade.

She watches as the sun starts to rise above the trees, illuminating the sky with a soft purple-orange glow.  She can feel that Laura has left and she turns around, as if to make sure. She stands up, shaking the water from her foot and picking up her shoes.  Her feet shuffle across the sandy shore, cool against her skin. She tiptoes up the slight incline, being careful not to step on any sharp objects or hard rocks.

Carmilla is in no rush to get back to her cabin, knowing fully well Laura will be there, most likely in the shower or eagerly frolicking around for the arrival of their younger campers.  She’s positive that the headache she can feel coming on will only worsen if she’s even within a foot of her spritely bunkmate.

Her feet drag along the soft grass and occasional bits of gravel and twigs. A few lights in the main building have turned on as the world starts to wake up from its slumber. Carmilla wonders what it must feel like to get a full eight hours of sleep, to close their eyes and not have thousands of demons drowning them.

Carmilla pushes the creaky screen door open, the sunrise just on her heels. She drops her shoes on the equally creaky wood floor and collapses on her, yep, also quite creaky, springy bed. She pulls the blanket up and over her head just as the bathroom door groans open.

Laura, hair this time wrapped up in a towel, waltzes out of the bathroom feeling refreshed and more than ready for the day ahead of her. She smiles, her eyes glowing, at the sunshine now peeking through the windows.  Her eyes land on the lump that is Carmilla nestled on her bed; she straightens up and clears her throat in one of those annoyingly loud fashions.

She’s met with no response.

She gives it another go, only louder and much more obnoxious this time.

Carmilla sighs from under her blanket and slowly turns on to her other side to face the ball of irritating sunshine trying to get her attention. She immediately raises a perfectly plucked eyebrow upon laying eyes on her, not expecting her to be clad in the minimal, not leaving much to the imagination.  Carmilla’s eyes rake down her small body, eating up every inch. The curve of her small breasts hiding behind a black sports bra starts the path to a flat and ridiculously toned stomach.  The trail ends with just a slight curve at her hip continuing down freshly shaven legs. She can feel Laura squirm just a bit as she absorbs her physical features, her eyes darting back up to meet the small woman’s. 

A pause, a moment, something.  Carmilla can see Laura’s face relax just for a moment before scrunching up and turning around, flushed. 

Carmilla cackles and lies back down.  She glances once more over at Laura who is now hunched over her dresser, quickly trying to find something to wear.

“Looking good, cutie.  You workout?”

Laura chooses very defiantly to ignore her disgustingly objectifying bunkmate, shifting through clothes.  Her nerves start to get the better of her as she finds herself sorting through the same grey and blue tank tops.  She lets out a sigh of frustration and grabs at a shirt.

Carmilla laughs again, causing Laura to whip around and scowl. She has her head in a book now, ignoring her livid companion aside from the taunts of sporadic laughter.

“You know we have to be in the mess hall in fifteen minutes,” Laura spits in Carmilla’s direction while awkwardly pulling on her pants, followed by a heather grey tank top.

“People always seem to find themselves in the most trouble when they butt into business that is not their own,” she retorts, her eyes still scanning the pages of her old book.  “I’d be more worried about getting that ghastly hair dried if I were you.”

Laura scoffs loudly, and stomps into the bathroom like a small child who didn’t get the toy they asked for.  Carmilla chuckles and gets up to find something to wear.  She glances at the sun now much higher in the air and her smirk quickly turns into a frown.  She considers what Will said earlier about what their mother had been thinking when deciding it would be a great idea to send them to a summer camp where it was the sun always shone.

 _Maybe that’s why I can’t seem to stand sunshine and rainbows over there_ , Carmilla wonders. Laura soon consumes her thoughts, kicking those she had of her darling mother and her mission to the curb.  She can’t help but replay the image of that tantalizing body and there’s no way she can squash the terribly explicit thoughts she had while imagining what she would do to it if she had the opportunity.

But other than the lustful, sinful thoughts Carmilla found herself having, she knows for certain that’s as far as they go.  Her optimism proves too much and slight err of arrogance that surrounds her drives Carmilla in the far other direction.

Laura bounds out of the bathroom, her nearly dry hair thrown up in another messy ponytail with her college baseball cap as a final touch. She’s fully dressed, down to a brand new pair of hiking boots and minimal makeup.  She eyes Carmilla who tosses through her own wardrobe to find something suitable to wear.  Laura scoops up a small backpack from her bed and pauses, for a moment considering waiting for Carmilla. Although since arriving she hasn’t had anything pleasant to say to her, Laura can’t help but feel as though it’s her duty to dole out second chances.  Her father had always told her to give people the benefit of the doubt, and how well did she even know Carmilla anyway?  They’d hardly had a proper introduction and only exchanged snappy and very short remarks a handful of times.

Carmilla can feel Laura’s hesitation without turning around. She collects a few articles of clothing and saunters to the bathroom.

“Don’t wait around, buttercup.”

The bathroom door slams shut, cueing a huge sigh of irritation to come from Laura as any thoughts of second chances flew straight out the window.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Wow, you have got to be the poster child for every camp’s wet dream.” LaF exclaims upon seeing Laura when she enters the mess hall.  They give her a once over and are far from wrong. Laura dons what every classic camp counselor would have, including her very own whistle and stopwatch hanging from her neck.

Laura blushes and can’t help but grin. “Oh stop, you’re just saying that.”

“By the looks of it, it seems as though you’ve had this job planned out for a while, am I wrong?”

“You got a clipboard in that backpack, Hollis?” Danny’s voice cuts through the mess hall as her and Sam waltz up to the pair.  Laura smiles, bashfully.  “Because you’re not a real camp counselor until you have a clipboard. Just look at Perry.”

They all look over at their surprisingly calm leader going through some preliminary notes.  She has about half a dozen clipboards with pens attached to them with strings.

“I’m surprised Perry hasn’t had a stroke yet, she get a good night sleep?” Laura asks.  LaF speaks up.

“Quite the opposite actually.  Didn’t sleep a wink.  If she wasn’t busy going over all the camper’s information, she was cleaning.  If she wasn’t cleaning, she was making sure she wouldn’t be short any pencils. Four Red Bulls later and she’s wired, that’s why she’s not running around here like a chicken with its head cut off. Gotta love her though.”

Danny frowns, concerned. “That’s insane.  Four Red Bulls is terrible for you.  If today doesn’t kill her, those definitely will.”

Laura laughs a little too loud at what wasn’t really meant to be a joke. LaF frowns and stares at her, trying to will her to stop making a fool of herself.  Laura continues to laugh, finally making LaF nudge her in the side to make the awkwardness cease.  Laura fake coughs, trying to cover up the strange fit she just had. Danny notices the nonverbal exchange, but she doesn’t say anything, instead finding it a bit endearing.

The mess hall door opens, this time Will and Carmilla entering and on time, much to everyone’s surprise.  Perry even glances up, checks her watch and nods, slightly impressed. Will wipes the bottom of his lip with his thumb, while Carmilla subtly licks her own.  Will greets Kirsch with a bro hug and Carmilla takes a seat by herself at a far table.  She digs through her bag and quickly withdraws a book.

“Wow, the Addams Family made it on time today, impressive,” Danny quips, another obnoxious Laura snicker meeting it as soon as it leaves her mouth. LaF just rolls their eyes, not even bothering to stop her this time.  Thankfully, it’s much shorter lived than the first. 

“C’mon guys, that was funny,” Laura says, defending Danny. Danny nods in agreement, draping her arm around, well more so resting her arm, on Laura’s shoulder. Laura glances at the contact, the inner animated, Lizzie McGuire-esque version of herself squealing with delight.

“Hey, thanks.  At least I know if I ever did stand up, at least one person would laugh.

“Alright guys, c’mon, gather round.”  It’s the first thing anyone has heard Perry say all morning. She rushes around her table, reading from a clipboard.  She looks up all who have now gathered in a semi circle around her.  She looks from face to face and frowns.  She peeks around Kirsch.

“Carmilla.” Her tone is terse. Carmilla glances up only slightly at the crowd who all are now looking at her.

“Fine.” She rolls her eyes, dragging herself up and walking over to join the group.

Perry starts handing out yet another thick packet, this one just a tad smaller than the first. “All your camper information is included in this packet. Please do not lose it. There’s personal information in them I don’t want to make another copy either.”

Everyone scans through their packets that include photos, copied files of the campers, release waivers, and any other pertinent information regarding the kids soon to be in each counselor’s care.  Perry continues speaking.

“Like we went over thoroughly last night, each of you is assigned five to six kids. Upon arrival, please make sure you go through the proper check in procedures we discussed.  After each participant is debriefed, the parent or guardian present should escort him or her to their cabins as directed in their welcome packets.  It is very important that they receive their own check in information.”

Everyone, including Carmilla, swears Perry looks directly at her upon delivering her last sentence.

Carmilla looks up from her paperwork and around at everyone else. “What? I’m lazy, not irresponsible.”

Everyone, including Will, exchange looks of disagreement, confusion, and “Uh, I don’t know.”  Carmilla shrugs, giving in.

“Okay, fine.”

Perry checks the time on her own stopwatch hanging from her neck. “Check In starts in an hour.  They will initially go through one of the camp directors and myself before finding their assigned counselor.  That’s where you will all be stationed at separate tables here in the mess hall. You all made your signs last night, right?”

Everyone nods in agreement, and pulls out their nicely decorated signs. Carmilla glances from each person, glaring at Will who holds up a decent, finished arts and crafts project.

“Guess I missed the memo on that one,” she says, scratching her head. Everyone groans. Carmilla’s eyes widen in confusion and the sudden mutiny from the small group, including her brother. “What? C’mon seriously? It’s not that big of deal. Here, look.”

She tears off the last sheet of her packet and whips out a stick of eyeliner from her back pocket.  She lazily and sloppily scribbles ‘CARMILLA’ in big bold letters on the blank side. She holds up her sign for everyone to see.

“Happy, now?  At least they’ll be able to read it, unlike Seventeenth Century over here who thought it would be a good idea to write in cursive.”  She motions to Laura’s sign, which looks just adorable, but is indeed written in loopy cursive.

Laura’s jaw drops, annoyed and slightly offended.  She looks down at her own name sign. “What? It’s fine and clearly legible thank you very much.  At least it doesn’t look like a Kindergartener wrote it!”

“Kindergarteners are the ones reading it, you ignorant complete waste of a life form!”

“Okay, well for one, someone obviously did not read the counselor handbook.”

LaF tries hard to hide a grin, much like the rest of the group who watch the entertaining, downright childish spat.  Perry shakes her head, putting her hand to her forehead. She finally throws her hands up in frustration.

“Ladies!” It’s the first time since the previous day that she’s had to raise her voice in a shrill manner.  Laura and Carmilla finally stop glaring at each other and glance towards Perry. “Your signs are both just fine. They’re fine, great in fact. But, this isn’t a goddamn drawing contest.  Can we please grow the hell up and move on?”

There’s silence amongst the group, everyone staring at Perry and her outburst with wide eyes and just a hint of fear.

Carmilla can’t help herself, and with the slightest of smirks and taunt in her tone, “She started it.”

Danny’s sharp reflexes jump in as she quickly intervenes, grabbing Laura by the arms just as she’s about to impale Carmilla with her fist. Carmilla quickly ducks out of the way as LaF pushes Laura away.

“Let me go, let me go!” Laura struggles against Danny and LaF, but her squirms are useless against her much larger and stronger opponents. Her eyes land on Carmilla. “Don’t take your hatred of the world out against me!  I refuse to be your little…human…punching bag!”

Carmilla’s cool and confidence has easily made its way back to its rightful owner. She smirks. “Please, sweetheart. I have plenty of scapegoats. I don’t need your pretty face as one of them.”

“Just ignore her Laura,” Danny mutters.  Carmilla rolls her eyes and stomps off back to her own little table across the mess hall.  Perry has given up entirely, sitting down with her head in her hands. Laura spots her friend and immediately regrets everything.  She groans and swoops down next to Perry, shaking Danny and LaF off of her.

“Oh, Perr, I’m so sorry.  I don’t know what it is that came over me,” she apologizes.  Everyone else disperses back to his or her own tables, except for LaF.   “You know me, I’m not a violent person.”

“Well, except for that time you nearly knocked out Carmilla five hot seconds ago,” LaF points out.  Laura glares at her friend who puts their hands up in surrender.  She returns her attention to Perry.

“Perry, I’m really, really sorry.  I promise nothing like this will ever happen again.” 

Perry, pouting, looks at Laura and sighs.  “Fine.  Apology accepted, but just this one time.”  She stands up but looks at Laura, no sign of amusement in her stare. “But seriously Laura. You’re my friend and all but I really can’t handle a riff between two of my counselors.  What kind of example do you think that sets for the kids?”

“Of course!  Of course, of course, of course, I totally get that.”

“Please try to get along with Carmilla,” Perry orders.  “I know she’s a bit moody and callous –”

“Moody? More like misery inducing. Morose.  Unapproachable.  Almost inhuman,” LaF interjects. “I really don’t know why she’s even here in the first place.”

Perry shoots daggers at them. “Not.  Helping.”

“Right, right.  Sorry.”

Perry turns back to Laura who sighs, relenting. 

“Of course I’ll try and get along with Carmilla.  Anything that will make your job easier.”

“Thank you.”  It’s an irritated gratitude though.  She walks away to go find one of the camp directors.  LaF turns to Laura.

“Good luck with that.”

“I’m going to need more than luck.  Trying to get along with Carmilla is like trying to get a dog to take a bath. Even just trying to have a conversation is mission impossible.  She’s too much.”

“Well, just start off by trying to find positive things about her.” LaF and Laura look in Carmilla’s general direction.  She’s finding more interest in her book than her camper packet Perry passed out. “She is, uh…is well read! She’s literate.”

“Great.”

“Okay, she is…well, she…”

“Obviously has no sense of the weather.  Who wears all black and skinny leather pants on a 100 degree day?”

“Well, regardless of the weather, she has a keen sense of fashion.”

Laura looks at LaF with a “Really?” expression. “LaF, she’s wearing a ripped black t-shirt with black pants.  I wouldn’t necessarily call that ‘keen.’”

“Fine, fine, fine.  Well, she…okay, she’s not that hard on the eyes?” LaF looks at Laura, hopeful. Laura doesn’t have anything quippy to immediately respond with.  She tilts her head and finds herself absorbing Carmilla’s physical features from the opposite side of the mess hall.  Her eyes wander from the insanely sculpted jawline of perfection and down her upper torso. She watches as her lithe fingers flip through the old pages of her aging book and how her dark eyes dart across the page. LaF wasn’t wrong; Carmilla definitely had been blessed with the attractive gene.

“So you agree?  I’m going to take your momentary silence as an agreement.”

“What?” Laura’s voice drops. “No, I just…I don’t know.  I guess she’s okay.  But looks can’t make up for a terrible personality!”

“Fine, fine.  Only trying to help.”

Laura groans. “Ugh, I know, I’m sorry.  What has come over me lately that I’m biting all of my friends’ heads off? I swear it must have something to do with being around Miss I Hate The World.”

“You know I can hear you two losers from over here,” Carmilla’s voice carries through the space.  Nobody else pays much attention to what’s going on.  Laura and LaF whip their heads around, only to find Carmilla’s head still bent down into her book. Laura stomps away, hands balled into fists with a scrunched up face.  LaF looks between Laura and Carmilla who peeks over the top of her book towards the little ball of fury traipsing away.  LaF and Carmilla lock eyes for a moment, the latter shooting a “What are you looking at” type glare in their direction.  Flustered, LaF wanders off towards Laura.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

A stream of cars steadily rolls into the campgrounds, parking in a makeshift dirt lot and in the drop off circle.  Kids, ages ranging from 12 to 14, excitedly jump out, their parents worrying after them, trying to make sure they don’t run off at the sight of familiar faces. Laughter, hugs, excitement, it is general happy merriment that pumps through the sunny and excited soon-to-be campers. 

Carmilla sits slumped at her table, arms and legs crossed with an unmoving expression and total boredom.  A table less than a foot next to her sits Laura, straight posture, hands folded neatly in front of her and a wide grin.  Spread out on her table in front of her are various pieces of candy.

They couldn’t look more opposite if you tried.

A few campers had already come by and met with some of the other counselors like Danny and Will.  Carmilla had watched her brother interact with the two kids who had come up to him and she found herself becoming increasingly more irritated at how easily he was able to put on a show for them. 

She watches as a young girl and her mother approach Laura’s table.

Laura perks up, her grinning growing twice the size it was, if possible. “Hi!  I’m Laura, what’s your name?”

“Alison,” she says shyly, playing with a loose strand at the hem of her t-shirt.

The girl has to be at least less than five feet and looks as though she’s six. Her honey blond hair is done in two braided pigtails and a pair of translucent pink glasses shapes her face. Carmilla, aside from her broody and overall negative attitude, has to admit she is rather adorable. She even, for a moment finds herself smiling a bit, before quickly shaking out of it and throwing on a formidable frown.

“Hi!”

The cheery sound of a small voice interrupts Carmilla’s thoughts, making her jump a little out of her seat and bad posture.  She quickly unfolds her arms and leans against her side of the table. In front of her stand two young kids, not nearly as picture perfect cute as Alison.  They are made up of one boy and one girl, both the same height wearing matching striped t-shirts.  They look up at her with doe like eyes from under their matching baseball caps.

“Hello…” Carmilla responds, not really thinking of an appropriate way to talk to kids.  She eyes them rather suspiciously.

“Are you a vampire?” the girl asks in wonder, squinting her eyes up at Carmilla who is completely taken aback by the question.  The inquiry gets Laura’s attention as she turns her head with a smirk in Carmilla’s direction, her camper already gone.

“What? Why, why would you say that?”

The girls shrugs, but doesn’t take her eyes off of her. “I don’t know. They usually wear all black and are really pale.”

“They’re not very nice either.  And you look pretty grumpy,” the boy chirps up.  Carmilla glares at him, not really meaning to but more on instinct than anything.  Laura can’t help but laugh at her bunkmate’s expense, completely charmed by the children’s innocent questions.

“Well if I was a vampire, do you think calling said vampire mean and grumpy would be a very good idea?” she asks shortly.  They both shake their heads, dropping the subject.  “Right.  And you two little mongrels, your names?”

“I’m Katie, and this is –”

“Brock. We’re the twins.”

Carmilla raises an eyebrow. “The?  As in a cliché set of troublemaking twins who I constantly have to reprimand?”

“What?” They’re both lost, not really understanding a word their new camp counselor just said.  She frowns, rolling her eyes and waving them off.

“Never mind,” and then mutters to herself, “Simpletons, what do they teach these kids nowadays?"

Carmilla goes through the very minimum she has to with Brock and Katie, before their mother whisks them away to find their bunks.  She glances over at Laura who just finishes up with another one of her eager campers with a huge grin but her attention is soon drawn once again back to Will.  He smiles and laughs with one of the kids he’s helping, waving good-bye to them as they walk off. She frowns and scowls, standing up from her seat.

To Laura, “Watch my table.”

“What?” Laura looks around frantically, watching Carmilla leave her post. “No, Carmilla, you have to meet your team.  I have my own –Carmilla no.  Come back! Hey!”

Carmilla’s not listening whatsoever as she steals a piece of candy from Laura’s table.  She might have been yelling about putting it back, but she really doesn’t care.  She approaches Will’s table and grabs him by the arm, dragging him away.

“Hey!”

“What are you doing?”  She lets go of his arm. He massages it, as if sore from the firm grip she had on his bicep.

“Um, my job.  What are you doing? Besides acting like the depressive emo kid.  Who’s attention are you vying for, sis?”

“Shut up.  How can you act so nonchalant with these kids?  They can’t be any older than 14 and we have to kill one of them.  Or at least bring them to our mother to kill…it doesn’t matter. You get the point. Doesn’t that bother you?”

Will waves her off, his expression unchanging. “Carm, don’t worry. Didn’t mom tell you?”

She pauses and takes a half step back from her brother, with a look of pure confusion on her face.  Tell her what?

Will doesn’t need a response from his sister.  He grins wickedly and chuckles.  “Mommy dearest didn’t tell her favorite daughter part of the plan? She came by last night.”

“I went for a walk.  Couldn’t sleep. What did she tell you?”

Will leans forward, closing much of the space between them. He looks around to make sure nobody is watching or listening.  “Our target isn’t the kids, mom’s evil but not heartless.”  He pauses, doing another sweep.  “It’s one of the employees.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the great response everyone! I had a lot of fun with this one so much so that I got it done in less than two days, which is amazing for my standards. Also I'm still on break so I don't have a lot to do. Since I got this one done so quickly I did decide to put it up, but will start releasing new chapters on a weekly basis, hopefully every Monday starting today. 
> 
> I'm justifying writing useless fic by saying that it's improving my writing. And also entertaining the Internet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit shorter than the other two, but I found a good stopping place. I'm a little stuck at the moment but actually have quite a bit written for later chapters already. I'll get over it.

A mild breeze whisks through the tall trees, cooling down the stuffy, night air. Carmilla sits leaned up against a wide tree trunk, picking through dead weeds and grass on the forest floor. Will stands across from her, drinking out of a flask, a thick red liquid dripping from it.  He tosses it to his sister when he’s done, immediately pulling out another flask, this one containing something a little more mainstream.

“You’re an idiot William, it’s obviously goody two shoes.”  She takes a swig of blood, gently wiping up any residue from her lip with her tongue.  “Mother must have had something to do with this ridiculous bunkmate arrangement.”

Will shrugs, still extremely unsure about his sister’s guess. “She’s too nice. Too chipper.  Mother hates chipper.”

“That’s enough reason in itself to kill her.” 

“We don’t even know that’s what she’s going to do. Plus, why would she make her your bunkmate? For you to get chummy with her?”

Carmilla glares at him from behind the flask. “Do I look like one to make friends? You’ve got that silly opposites attract trope floating through your head.  It’s just a plot device to manipulate readers into getting behind whatever the author wants them to.  God, I hate this century.” She motions for the alcohol laced flask. “Give me that.”

Will tosses her the flask; it gracefully lands in her hands.  She takes a large drink of the bourbon inside and grimaces at the taste. She takes another and stands up. “I’m positive it’s her. Might as well just go grab sunshine and rainbows now and be done with it.”  Carmilla starts to stumble down an unmarked path back towards the campgrounds.  Will quickly goes to catch up, standing in her way. Carmilla frowns.

“Get out of my way.”

“Not now. Two nights before the full moon, we bring her here.”

“Are you serious?” she whines, her voice drawing out as if she’s about to throw a tantrum on the spot, a look of almost pain on her face.  “The full moon?  God this whole thing reads like a bad prophecy.”  She takes another drink of bourbon.  Carmilla didn’t normally question what her mother’s quests were about as they usually involved something ludicrous and ridiculously irrelevant. But something perks her interest this time as she straightens up and asks, “Did mother say anything else about this brilliant plan of hers?  What does she need Laura for?”

It’s the first time Carmilla hears herself say Laura’s actual name out loud, normally opting for some enticing delicacy or just nothing at all.  She can’t help but like the way the two syllable name rolls off her alcohol and blood laced tongue, almost wanting another reason to say her name again. However, Carmilla quickly shakes the thought out of her brain.

Will simply shrugs. “No idea, you know how ambiguous she likes to be.  I just know we’ve got five weeks until the next full moon, so just like try to blend in and try not to draw a lot of attention to yourself, okay?” Will says trying to convince his sister it’ll be okay. “And maybe try and have a little fun. Just don’t stay in the sun too long.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Young campers fill the once empty cafeteria, still equally if not more, hotter than when it only boasted host to some empty tables and an occasional squabbling group of counselors.  The kids go through the line with their trays and meet up with their newfound friends at different tables.  At the very end of the line, sits the counselors and camp employees tables.

Laura drops her tray down next to Danny who glances over at her plate and frowns. “An apple?” She looks back at her own which contains a large helping of eggs and potatoes.  “You planning on going back up for seconds, Hollis?”

Normally calling someone by his or her last night was associated as an unwanted jest, but Laura knows it’s all in fun and she loves it, unashamedly.  She takes a seat next to Danny as the other counselors stare confusedly at her empty tray.

“We have a big day of activities planned for today!  I can’t have a full stomach weighing me down.”  Nobody agrees with her.  “Don’t worry guys, I have all my daily percentages of each food group laid out for the day, I’m not going to pass out on the spot, although if I did, I wouldn’t mind some resuscitating.”  She glances at Danny with a grin.

Carmilla, her head in her book, overhears the comment from further down the table and immediately erupts in a fit of fake gagging noises.  Well, they’re pretty real, as she can’t believe what she just heard come out of Laura’s mouth.  Everyone looks at Carmilla, who lowers her book.

“What? Oh, I’m sorry, I just choked on the most disgusting show of flirtation I’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing. Excuse me while I die of repulsion.”

LaF nods, agreeing with Carmilla. “Yeah, Laura.  I have to agree with Ole’ Crotchety over there.”

“Thanks for the nickname.”

LaF leans forward to look at Carmilla. “You’re welcome.”  She’s back to looking Laura who looks at her annoyed, taking a bite from her lonely apple. “That was pretty off-putting, should I say?”

Laura rolls her eyes. “You guys are ridiculous.  I don’t see what’s wrong with what I said.  If I pass out, I think I would absolutely love it if someone revived me. I don’t plan on dying out here.”

Carmilla snorts at the irony.  Will nudges her hard in the side. Laura turns to Carmilla.

“Even you…you broody, terrible…person you.”

Carmilla takes her eyes off of her words once more, tilting her head and smirking down the table at the little ball of fury.  “Hon, if you want me to plant one on you, no need to disguise it behind passing out.” She tops it off with a wink before going back, once again to her book, much to Laura’s sheer annoyance. She can feel a flush of red creeping to her cheeks as the image of Carmilla kissing her dances around in her head. She can’t say she hates the thought, even feeling as though the temperature in the cafeteria grew tenfold, but she quickly throws it from her mind.  Laura turns back to anyone but Carmilla to continue her conversation about the day’s events.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

A whistle shrieks through the air, followed by a cacophony of screams as kids run at each other on the vast field.  Two flags stand at opposite sides as an intense game of Capture the Flag commences, Carmilla and Danny’s bunks going up against Laura and Kirsch’s.

Laura, a tad overenthusiastically cheers her team on like an overly intense soccer mom.

“Let’s go guys, c’mon you can do it!”

She jumps up and down, running down the sideline of the field along with her young players. Kirsch gives her a side eye, wondering if he should be doing the same thing.  Danny laughs at Laura’s enthusiasm as Carmilla frowns behind a pair of dark sunglasses.

“You’re the coach of the year, Hollis!” Danny yells at her.  Carmilla stares at Laura, shaking her head. Was this seriously the girl that her devilish, sadistic mother thought was a serious threat to her livelihood? Carmilla frowns, unable to fathom any sort of intimidation her mother sees in the innocent five foot two bundle of energy.

A few rounds of the high energy game go by, Laura and Kirsch’s team beating Danny and Carmilla’s both times.  They kids walk off the field for a momentary break, mainly for snacks and refreshments. Carmilla notices how crestfallen her and Danny’s campers look as she rolls her eyes toward Laura and Kirsch’s teams who celebrates, high fives all around.  Carmilla swears Laura looks at her and smirks as if she’s bragging about how much better she is.  

It’s the final straw.

“That’s it,” she mutters, roughly.  She gathers the group around, physically moving some of them into their tight circle. “Juice boxes away. It’s time to take the opposition down.” 

Danny and the rest of the kids frown at Carmilla’s sudden interest of winning.

“You okay, sport?” Danny asks.

“But we’re tiiiiiired,” Brock whines, stomping his foot.  She turns to him sharply, pointing a finger in his direction.

“I do not like that attitude mister.  We still have fifteen minutes of this activity and frankly, I have to say I’m getting a bit tired of losing.”

“But you’re not even playing,” Katie retorts at Carmilla, a frown resting on her young face, her arms crossed like a defiant teenager.

“So? I’m your coach, along with Larry Bird over here.” Danny rolls her eyes at the nickname.  “If you all lose, we lose too.  Do you just want to stand around and always be losers? Is that what your parents taught you to do?”  Nobody really responds instead opting to stare blankly at the suddenly hyped up coach. “That’s what I thought. Now, this is our chance to shine. We’re going to go out there and crush those sorry excuses for lives, okay?!”

She’s never felt so pumped up and aggravated in her life.

Laura glances over at Carmilla’s sudden outburst.  She scoffs at her opponent’s sudden burst of enthusiasm, knowing full well it’s because she can’t stand that she’s losing.  She locks eyes with Danny, who’s more than confused at why her co-captain is all of a sudden ruthless about winning.  Laura points to herself, laughing, Danny finally understanding what’s going on. She laughs, still smiling at Laura.

Carmilla blows her whistle and ushers her team onto the field, Laura and Kirsch’s following suit. She eyes one of Laura’s smaller boys, Michael, and mouths, “I’m watching you.”  The kid just sticks his tongue out at her, glaring.

“You’re not going to win, Karnstein,” Laura taunts.

“Eat shit, sweetheart.”

Laura rolls her eyes at the swearing.  Danny and Kirsch stand just a few paces behind their respective co-coaches, wanting nothing to do with the newfound rivalry.

A new round commences at the sound of a whistle and the young campers go at it, running at one another quite similarly to how the previous few games had started off. Carmilla shakes her head with frustration, grabbing at the swinging whistle around her neck.

“Time out!”

Laura scowls. “What? There are no time outs in Capture the Flag!”

She ignores her protest and storms onto the field, motioning her players to gather round. The other team stares at their huddle.

“What are you guys doing?  Do you think the same strategy you performed with and _lost with_ will hail different results?”  More stares of confusion, and even slight annoyance meet her reprimand. “No, they’re not, is the simple answer.  Now here’s what we’re going to do.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The sun sitting pretty high in the air taunts the worn out campers as they stomp off the field, sweat and dirt hanging off of them.  Danny and Kirsch lead the pack out, checking over their daily itineraries. Laura walks with Michael who nurses his wrist and looks as though he had been crying.

“We’ll go see the nurse to get you all bandaged up, okay?  Does it hurt?”

Carmilla rolls her eyes from a few paces behind Laura and her injured camper. “Oh c’mon, it’s just a silly sprain.”

Laura spins around and glares at her. “Yes, that _your_ camper caused after tackling him!”

Carmilla shrugs and turns slightly to Eric, a buff boy who triumphantly holds the red flag over his shoulder.  She gives him a small high five with a grin, pleased at getting a response from Laura and finally putting her in her place.

Laura finds the nurse, handing Michael off to get his wrist attended to. The rest of the campers disperse to lunch.

“Save me a seat,” Laura mutters to Danny as the tall counselor departs her fellow shorter comrade and heads up to the cafeteria.  Laura’s eyes target Carmilla who spots her and knows she’s in for a chewing out. She stops, amused by what the small little bundle of energy is about to say to her this time.

“Wipe that smirk off your face,” Laura demands, stomping up to the smug vampire.

“What smirk?” she asks innocently.

“Oh you know what I’m talking about, don’t act all innocent on me.  You couldn’t stand to see me beating you.”

Carmilla scoffs. “Let’s not make it all about you now, cupcake.  I have a very competitive personality.”

“I’m surprised you have much of a personality at all,” she retorts, crossing her arms, a little too pleased with herself for a very subpar comeback.

“Ouch, was that meant to offend me, cutie?  While I do appreciate the attempt, believe me I do, it came off a little brash? At least for you, anyway.”

“God, you just can’t help it with the little jabs, just trying to get under my skin all the time. What did I ever do to you?”

Carmilla shakes her head and moves around her to head up to the cafeteria. “Don’t try and play all innocent here with me, babe.  You’ve had it out for me since I had the pleasure of being your bunkmate.” Laura begrudgingly follows Carmilla on her trek. “Unless this hostility is simply your way of covering up your unrequited feelings and lust for me.  In that case, I’m absolutely flattered, but not interested.” 

Laura can’t tell if this is another one of Carmilla’s digs or not, most of the time the things she says usually meaning something entirely different.  A part of her, where she’s not entirely sure, hopes that she’s not serious. 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The night is quiet and calm as Danny and Laura walk along the moonlit lakeshore. Laura laughs at something Danny says as they joke around and talk like old buddies.  Laura likes Danny’s cool and collected manner, so carefree and enjoying life, very much unlike someone she knows.  It’s refreshing to have her around and Laura enjoys spending the time she does with her when their campers are tucked away in their cabins. 

“So what’s up with your weirdo bunkmate?” Danny asks, kicking at the sand with her large, bare feet. 

Laura shrugs. “I don’t know.  Traumatic childhood or something, probably.  I don’t have time to figure it out.”

“Whatever it is, man, I don’t know.  Although, I got to hand it to ya Hollis, I applaud you for your resilience.” Laura smiles.

“Sorry I got all competitive today.  It’s really not like me to get that heated over a stupid elementary school game.” She sighs. “Carmilla just brings the worst out of me sometimes.  God, she’s a pain.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it.  What’s camp without a little rivalry, right?  I think it’d be awfully boring if we didn’t all get a little competitive every now and then.”

They stop and Laura looks up at Danny with a smile on her face.  She nods. “Thanks.  You definitely know how to make me feel better.”

Danny shrugs, shoving her hands in her pockets and looking around, her playful eyes darting around in every direction behind her glasses. “What can I say? I’m a charmer.” They both giggle before Danny leans down to give Laura a kiss that she accepts eagerly.

“I’m still having to get used to this height thing,” Danny says, laughing after breaking away. Laura playfully punches her in the shoulder, having to reach up just to complete that little task.

“Hey! Well I can’t imagine there are a lot of girls taller than six feet that you’ve made out with.” She hesitates, not sure if she really wants to know the answer, but asks for safety, “Is there?”

“You’d be surprised. None as short as you though.”

“Excuse me, five and two inches is a very respectable height, thank you very much.”

“You should call yourself lucky.” She leans down, kissing her again.  After the break apart for what seems like quite a bit of time, they start to make their way back up towards their respective bunks. Danny keeps side eyeing Laura, her cabin approaching before her own.  They stop about a few yards away from the door.

“Hey, listen, you want to…” Danny searches for an appropriate phrase.  She finally settles on, “Spend the night?”

Laura looks away, blushing with a smile on her face.  She looks back at a hopeful Danny who already seems to know the answer. “I’m flattered, Danny, I really am.  But I usually, I don’t…  Maybe next time.”

Danny nods in understanding, totally cool with it.  “Totally, see you tomorrow at breakfast?”

“Definitely.”

“Maybe you’ll actually eat something?”

Laura laughs. “We’ll see.  Good night Danny.”

“Good night, Laura.”

Laura watches her until she disappears into her own cabin, waving once more before being swallowed whole.  Laura sighs and immediately starts hitting herself in the head.

“Damn it, Hollis, what were you thinking?”  She stomps the rest of the way to her own cabin, cursing herself for not taking Danny’s invitation.  It’d be too late now to go back without seeming desperate.  As of late, Laura had been feeling rather aggravated in the lack of anything remotely sexual, being hidden away at a sleep away camp for practically still elementary kids for the past few weeks.  Not that the camp lacked any amount of attractiveness, hell there was plenty of that to go around.  Sure she had shared a few innocent kisses with Danny here and there, it only going as far as a heated make out session on the beach, but never to anyone’s cabins or lacking clothes.

She pushes the door open, almost a little forcefully, irritated and her thoughts still swimming of a missed opportunity she so desperately needed.

“Someone’s a bit sexually frustrated,” a voice cracks through the air, disturbing Laura’s thoughts and making her jump at least a good two feet in the air.

“Holy fuck!”

Carmilla sits up on her elbow and raises a perfectly plucked eyebrow. “And she swears too?” She lies back down with a smirk. “I never thought I’d live to hear it. And I plan to be around for a while. I have to hand it to you, cutie, I respect your want to be wooed before eaten.”  She winks.

Laura glares at her bunkmate. “I didn’t think you’d be home.”

“I’m not. This isn’t home.”

“You know what I mean.” She pauses at her dresser. “Were you eavesdropping?”

“The window was open, you were less than a yard away from it and you talk loudly. It’s not like I’m going to dive for the nearest pair of ear plugs when I hear your voice, although investing in some might be worth it.”  She acts like she’s taking a mental note. 

“Do you only speak in sarcasm?”

Carmilla shrugs, glancing down at her painted fingernails.  She picks at a stray speck on one of them.  “I figured you’d be used to it by now, creampuff.”

“I have a name. It’s _Laura_.”

“What?” She’s acting oblivious and it drives Laura up the wall and Carmilla knows it. This is what she lives for.

“Ugh!” Laura snatches up a towel and a fresh pair of clothes before storming into the bathroom, slamming the door forcefully behind her.  Carmilla chuckles as she swings her legs over her bed and exits the cabin altogether.

Carmilla can really only handle in small doses and she had had her fair share for the day. She walks barefoot across the lawn and heads over to the vast playing field they’d been competing on earlier that day. She settles on a spot in the middle and lies down on the soft grass.  She stares up at the millions of stars floating above her head, putting all irritating thoughts out of her brain.

She wishes she could lay in a grassy meadow, similar to this, maybe a little more picturesque, everyday and not worry about stupid missions or annoying girls, almost wanting to take the former over the latter any day.

Carmilla was used to her mother’s often quite ludicrous tasks of either finding some stupid artifact she just couldn’t touch or searching for the perfect place she could house her collection of trophies she took from people she’d murdered in the past, or even that one time she made her and Will go to IKEA to pick out a bed frame.

But annoying girls? That was a completely different challenge.

It wasn’t that she seriously hated Laura; believe it or not, Carmilla didn’t actually _hate_ anyone.  She was just everything she strived to never be.  Of course she’d had her fair share of annoying, prissy, ignorant girls in the past, hell, she even fucked a lot of them.  But she was always able to leave or never see them again.

Laura on the other hand was something completely different.  Carmilla had no escape.  In fact, Laura herself was the sole reason she was even at this stupid camp, pretending to like kids and the classic summer camp tropes.  And maybe that was the reason she seriously resented her.

A light rustling in the trees jolts Carmilla out of her thoughts.  It’s subtle, but there’s something about it that feels off. She sits up ever so slightly to take in her surroundings, but there’s nothing there.  She glances at the edge of the dark forest that sits about twenty yards away.  She frowns, squinting to see if something or someone was possibly watching her, but she doesn’t see a thing. She lies back down and stares once again at the stars, starting to count them but not like that ridiculous One Republic song that used to play on the radio all the time. She suddenly finds herself humming, muttering the words to the song upon thinking about it.

_Lately I been, I been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be…_

So maybe it was a little relevant to her life.  She curses herself for relating to current pop music of the 21st century, swearing the she would never enjoy _that_ sort of thing.

It reminds her of Laura.  Laura often liked to sing some ridiculous pop songs by that Taylor Swift girl, usually in the early morning when she was taking a shower and Carmilla was trying to recover a few hours of sleep from her usual sleepless nights.  Carmilla sighs in defeat, mad at herself for thinking about Laura and her stupid habits.  Again.

Whether she liked to admit it or not, the five foot two bundle of 1989 singing, Capture the Flag competing energy was starting to cast an unwanted hold over her, and Carmilla, angstily staring up at the sky, swears it’s something she needs to make stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I know it's not Monday, I decided to not set a specific day per week as I think a week between each chapter is too long. I will be doing my best to write as fast as possible, posting every 3-4 days as I know I will not have a lot of time after the next few weeks. However, I promise I will NOT abandon this fic since I have most to all of it planned out til the end.
> 
> Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added a set number of chapters because I think I finally settled on the outline and arch of the story. However, this is subject to change if I feel like things aren't flowing nicely. I'm pushing through this fic a lot faster than I thought I would so yeah. Here ya go.

The ring of crickets chime through the night air, the sounds making their way through the open, fan clad windows of the recreation room.  The band of counselors sits in the spacious area, congregating with a few beers and enjoying each other’s company.  Well most of them are.  Laura sits on Danny’s lap with LaF and Sam, laughing about some story Danny told about her campers.  Will watches Kirsch get his ass kicked by Carmilla in a game of pool. 

Kirsch sighs frustrated as Carmilla sinks yet another ball.  She smirks, walking around to the other side of the table, leaning down to find the best shot.  All she has left is the eight ball and it’s yet, another win for her.  She bends down, leaning over the table to aim her shot.  Just at that moment, Laura’s eyes wander around the room and they land Carmilla’s backside, leaning over.  Her eyes wander, not meaning to, and she becomes transfixed by her slight curves and the way her back leather pants fit quite nicely, accenting all the right spots.  Laura inhales sharply, feeling stupid and almost like an ogling pervert.  She shakes her head and turns her attention back to Danny’s story.

“Schedules!  Schedules, schedules, schedules.  I’ve got schedules,” Perry exclaims excitedly, emerging from the office and into the recreation room. 

“Sorry it’s so last minute, these were just sent so they’re hot off the press.  Here we go.”

Carmilla doesn’t pay Perry much attention as she leans over the pool table to line up a shot.  She shuts one eye, focusing on nothing but the little white cue ball and the solid colored one she has her heart set on sinking in the farthest pocket.  She’s just about to get her shot off, pulling her right arm back only so slightly until Perry knocks into her, not really meaning to, and laying her new itinerary right in the middle of her line up.  The cue stick hits the cue ball at the wrong angle, completely missing her target.

“Aha!” Kirsch shouts in delight at his opponent’s blunder.  Carmilla ignores him, really unsure how she ended up shooting pool with the big, dumb idiot.  She glares at Perry, snatching her schedule up without looking at it and shoving it in her back pocket.

“Tomorrow is the first hike day of the camp, I believe it is Laura and…” she scans down her own list.  Her expression changes only subtly from anxious to a sarcastic “Oh, fantastic” real fast. “Carmilla.  It will be Laura and Carmilla’s bunks tomorrow.  Oh boy.”

LaF and Danny laugh, a little too loudly, causing Laura to hit Danny with a frown and send daggers in LaF’s direction.  She gets up from Danny’s lap, who still snickers, and approaches Perry, pulling her aside.

“So about tomorrow…”

Perry puts a hand up right away, giving her one of those mom type expressions that pretty much say what she already knows. “No.  We talked about this Laura.”

“Yeah, but –”

“Laura.”  Perry’s voice is testy and Laura knows better than to push the matter any further.  She scowls, her nose wrinkling up.  She glances over at Carmilla to see how she’s taking the situation.

“Of course.” She throws her hands up in frustration and stomps back over to Danny.  Carmilla doesn’t seem fazed by anything new at all, Laura wondering if she even heard Perry’s announcement.  She continues playing her pool game, finally sinking in the 8-ball to beat Kirsch.  Again.  She smirks in triumph as Kirsch tosses his stick aside, irritated. 

“Got to hand it to you, kid, you have some awfully strange skills,” Will says, congratulating his sister.  Carmilla puts her arms out, as if it’s not big deal.

“What can I say?”  She lowers her voice. “I did drink a lot of that professional billiard player’s blood, remember?  Twenty years ago, down in Kentucky.”

“Yeah, that’s probably it.”  Will glances around and drags Carmilla by the arm to a more secluded, quieter part of the recreation room. “Listen, you’re going hiking tomorrow with little miss priss tomorrow.”

Carmilla shrugs, rolling her eyes. “God, William, I know.  No need to beat a dead horse.  Mother had something to do with this, I can feel it.”

“I know, I know.  She probably wants you to get chummy with her.  Make it easier to, I don’t know, lure her into our booby trap or whatever.”

Carmilla raises an eyebrow. “She wants me to seduce her?”

Will contemplates it. “Well, she didn’t say that, but hey, it might work.  She might be annoying as hell, but she definitely has a thing for you.”

Carmilla glances over Will’s shoulder where Laura and the gang are starting to pack up to head in for the night.  She hadn’t actually put much thought about Laura actually being into her like that, she was only poking fun at her because it made her get all riled up, something that absolutely delighted Carmilla to no end.  The more she thought about it, however, the stupider she felt for not realizing it before.

Will can tell by the expression on his sister’s face that she’s just now seeing it. “I’m right, huh?  God knows she stares at you enough.”

“Really?” Her voice is low and drawling as she raises another eyebrow.  She knew she stared, but Will made it sound like she practically stalked her. “I’m flattered.”

“Hey!” Perry’s voice interrupts their conversation as they turn around. “Lock up when you two leave please.”

Will nods and turns back to Carmilla.  He frowns, a bit confused by the expression on his sister’s face.  “Wait, you don’t like her, do you?”

She stares back at him blankly as if he just asked the stupidest question in the world. “What?” She rolls her eyes, annoyed by the ridiculous question he just posed and annoyed that she had just been thinking about Laura like that the night before.  Was she being obvious?  Carmilla was typically pretty good at covering up feelings or avoiding having them in the first place.  She refuses to think much of it, knowing it wouldn’t take much for Will not to believe it. “God no William, I just like poking fun at her, but you know me.

He stares at something on the floor and raises his eyebrows. “Oh do I, always love to start something.”  He locks eyes again with Carmilla. “Look, tomorrow on your hike, just, just try not to start anything…disastrous.  We have to start building some sort of trust or something so we can actually get her out into the middle of the woods…in the middle of the night.”

“You’re starting to sound like Perry, it’s very unbecoming.”

“Listen, I’m not asking you to bang her, I’m not even asking you to become friends with her.  Just, maybe establish some kind of _positive_ repertoire.”

“Fine.” She relents, but hates having to do so. “It’s not like I need the points anyway, those weird triplets I brought mother last year have me covered for life.”

“That’s not fair, I had the flu.  My kidnapping abilities were a bit under the weather.”

Carmilla sighs, exiting the room, her brother right behind her. “Maybe the more you tell yourself that, the more you’ll actually start believing it.”  The lights turn out behind them, the door slamming shut and locking on its own.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Ugh,” Laura cries out in frustration, pacing back in forth in front of one of the entrances to the woods.  A large hiking backpack makes her look even smaller than she already is, towering over her head a good six inches or so.  She checks her sports watch, much too large for her small, bony wrist.  It reads 9:22; Carmilla was already twenty-two minutes late from the time they agreed on meeting the next morning.

She hadn’t been in the cabin when Laura woke up that morning, much to her delight, hoping that maybe her despondent bunkmate would actually be on time for once.  The campers would be meeting them at the clearing at 9:30 and she had some things to get straight with Carmilla before the journeyed forward.

“I’m going to murder that girl, I swear,” she huffs, under her breath.

“If you plan on doing so, at least make it before I’m forced to traipse through the woods with you and a handful of little brats,” her voice cuts through the air.  Laura whips around to see Carmilla casually standing behind her, shuffling on her feet.  Her hair is pulled up in a loose ponytail, wisps of hair falling in front of her face and over the dark sunglasses shading her eyes.  She wears a pair of dark shorts paired with a red striped flannel.  It’s probably the most casual, close to camp wear that Laura has seen her don, and she can’t say she hates it.  Her eyes linger for a moment longer on her slender legs before she immediately goes back to frowning.  Carmilla doesn’t miss a beat. 

“You know, the scolding mother look doesn’t really do well on you, sweetheart,” Carmilla coos. 

“You’re late,” Laura quips, wishing it had more of a sting than it did. 

“Is that supposed to incite some sort of reaction out of me, darling?  I had you pegged as smart, so I imagined you must have figured it out by now that punctuality isn’t high on my list.” 

“Well that’s just rude and inconsiderate.  We agreed on nine and it’s nearly nine-thirty.”

“If you’re going to hold a grudge about me being a little late the entire day, please, let me know now and consider that whole slaying me thing again.  I’d rather take death than your whiny demeanor any day.” 

Laura frowns for a moment, something on Carmilla’s bottom lip catching her eye (not that Laura had been staring at Carmilla’s lips or anything).  She furrows her eyebrows. “What’s that?”

“What?” 

“That.  You’ve got something…” she motions with her hands to her own lip. “You’ve got…” Her hand moves instinctively towards her.

Carmilla freezes for a moment both from knowing exactly what it is Laura’s referring to and the fear that Laura’s about to do the cliché thing of wiping it off herself.  She’s not sure which she’ s more afraid of and immediately wipes whatever Laura thinks it is off.  She wipes her hand on her shorts.  Laura quickly withdraws her handing, hoping Carmilla doesn’t notice.  She does.

“Was that blood?”

“What?  No, I don’t know.  Sure.”

“Are you bleeding?  Are you okay?  You know, I have a professional grade First Aid kit somewhere in this backpack.”  Laura quickly starts to remove the large pack from her back, but Carmilla quickly stops her, knowing it will probably take some time to get it back on her.  She can’t help but smile at the sentiment and Laura’s entirely too caring attitude.

“Alright there Florence Nightingale, I’m fine.  Just bit down on my lip or something.  I think I’ll survive.” 

Laura’s hesitant, but readjusts her backpack, a little relieved Carmilla stopped her so she wouldn’t have to pack it all back up again.  It had taken her all night just to get this thing ready, that Carmilla knew as she kept her up shuffling everything around for hours.  She composes herself once more, standing up a little more straight and redonning a hardened expression. 

“Let’s just…I don’t want any problems today, okay?”

Carmilla shrugs. “I’ll behave if you do.”

“Excuse me.” Laura can’t help but feel just a little offended. “Between you and me, I’m pretty sure I’m the civilized one.”

Carmilla laughs. “Your ginger friend was right, you’re hilarious, cupcake.”  Laura doesn’t have time to come up with a quippy response as their horde of campers coming traipsing down from the cafeteria.  Most of them don’t look like their excited for the upcoming adventure, much to Laura’s chagrin.  She puts on an overly enthusiastic face.

“Good morning, ladies and gents.” Carmilla snorts at Laura’s fake enthusiasm. “Are you all ready for a fun day in the woods?”

She’s met with a meager response, her excitement fading only slightly.  Carmilla knows she’s already lost her crowd.  She chuckles, deciding for once to save the dear girl.  She steps forward.

“Hey, guys, today is going to be fun.  There’s a lot of cool creepy crawly things and large sticks you can hit each other with.”  This seems to get their attention and excitement as the pair notices eyes and ears start to perk up.  Laura side eyes Carmilla as she continues to entertain her crowd with “stories of the deep.”  She smiles to herself, grateful for her butting in for once.  She watches her interact with the kids and is surprised at how well they respond to her.  She’s animated and much livelier than she’s ever seen her aside from Capture the Flag day.  Laura can only wish that she’d act more like this all the time instead of her gloomy self all the time.

“And, also between me and you…” she leans down toward the group of now very hyped campers and whispers, but loud enough for Laura to hear, “This one’s kind of freaked out by this whole trip thing, so only throw the small rocks at her, alright?" 

Laura rolls her eyes, but laughs at the jest, relieved that the normal Carmilla wasn’t gone entirely.  She finishes her soliloquy with a grand bow, the kids cheering and laughing.  She ushers for them to follow her down the marked path to the forest.  Laura locks eyes with her as she leads the group, giving her a nod and smile of approval.  Carmilla simply winks back with what Laura normally may have interpreted as a smug smirk, but takes as mischievous grin.  She has to hand it to her for pulling so many different tricks from her sleeve, as she follows in line, rounding up the back of the group.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The sun only peeks in scattered ray through the trees, much to Carmilla’s relief.  She doesn’t know how she got in the position of leader as they begin their trek through the shaded thicket.  She looks around at her surroundings, familiar with the area from her nightly trips into the forest and her chats with Will.  The kids hadn’t been terribly annoying yet and were almost a bit endearing as they chased each other around with worms and what not.  She glances behind her once again just to make sure everyone is still in line.  Laura’s talking to one of the little girls, showing her something about a flower she had in her hand.  Carmilla can’t help but think they’re equally adorable, especially by how a stupid ray of stupid sun is stupidly hitting their faces.  She turns back around and, not that she needs to, glances down at the roughly drawn map made by Perry.  It’s not very accurate, but Carmilla knows a clearing should be coming up.

Her suspicions are confirmed as they approach a larger, more open space.  She tenses up, but only for a moment, knowing damn well what exactly this specific clearing means or will mean.  But it doesn’t matter in this moment and she clears it from her mind.  Laura frowns as they approach, comparing where they actually are with her own copy of Perry’s terribly drawn picture.

“But this shouldn’t be here…”

“Perry’s drawings aren’t the most accurate things on the planet,” Carmilla says almost with an air of arrogance in her tone.  Laura shrugs, however, not putting my thought into it.  She drops her backpack on the ground with a thud, her back thanking her for the relief.

“Good place to stop and eat lunch then.”  She digs through her backpack. “Who’s hungry?”

The campers eagerly gather around her as she hands each one a wrapped sandwich and a bag of chips from the cafeteria.  She offers one to Carmilla who willingly accepts it and takes a seat on a large boulder, making sure she keeps her distance from Laura.  That plan doesn’t tend to work out so well when Laura takes it upon herself to take up a seat next to her after making sure everyone is settled with their lunches.

“Hey,” she says, simply.  A very suspicious Carmilla looks at her funny.

“Hi…” she responds, tentatively.  Small talk is the last thing she wants to put herself through as she tries to rack her brain for something snappy to say so maybe she’ll leave her alone.  Her mind quickly travels back to her conversation with Will the previous night about trying to establish some sort of rapport with Laura.  She sighs, relenting in to the conversation.

“Having fun yet?”

“Trudging through the dirt with a bunch of prepubescent children, you tell me.”

Laura shrugs. “I don’t know, you seemed to be connecting with them pretty well earlier.  I’d say you were a _natural_.”  Her voice is sing-songy, almost a playful tease, almost even a bit flirty?  Carmilla isn’t really sure where this sudden wave of flirty Laura was coming from and she isn’t sure if she likes it or not.  The thing with Laura that intrigued Carmilla so much was the bits of raging fire that would come shining through at the most random times.  How one person was able to hold so much energy, so much fire in such a tiny little body.  It was also the thing that she absolutely loathed and couldn’t stand about her.  Of course it wasn’t only her strange persona that peeked Carmilla’s interest, but more so the insane amount of bottled up sexual frustration Carmilla had been feeling lately.

It’s not like the camp didn’t have its fair share of eligible fuck buddies, Carmilla having hooked up with someone in the kitchen and clerical staff.  But, it had only been a one-time ordeal and she usually tried to avoid their paths during the day.  Normally, Carmilla would be left to deal with her frustrations on her own, becoming her own best friend.  Sure, most of the staff pranced around in the minimal clothing due to the heat and the summer, but Laura was usually the only one her eyes ever lingered just a beat longer on.

It was purely a physical attraction, that’s what she was sure of.  She never really looked forward to her company and she knew if she had to listen to her terrible jokes on a regular basis that her head would certainly explode.  Carmilla becomes so caught up in her inner dialogue that she forgets Laura had been trying to flirt, or what she thinks is flirting, with her.

Laura stares at her, waiting for a response.  Her eyes are slightly glazed over and staring off at something on the ground.  Maybe she shouldn’t have tried for the playful angle.  Maybe it had come off as too forward.  Not that she was trying to be forward, she really was just asking a question.  And maybe she was trying to flirt just a little bit.  No harm in that, right?

“Carmilla?”

“Sorry, I…” she shakes her head and looks around, becoming once again with reality.  “How long is this thing supposed to last?”

Laura shrugs, quickly digging through her pockets to find the schedule. “It’s not very specific.  None of our schedules have been very _specific_.  I guess until the kids get worn out?”

They both look at their group who eagerly chomp down on their lunches, the food feeding them with only more energy.  Carmilla groans, making Laura laugh.

“That could be hours.”

The pair finishes their own lunches, exchanging minimal small talk much to Carmilla’s despair.  However, they are able to get through their meal without an argument or disagreement, a first since they met.  The small talk isn’t as bad as Carmilla would have normally thought, but she had no taste for chitchat of the weather or stupid camp activities.  The more Laura rambles on about another meaningless subject, the more Carmilla wonders what a real conversation would be like.  Who is the _real_ Laura Hollis?  What makes her tick?  What drives her absolutely wild?  Who does she care about?  What are her passions, fears, and goals?

They’re stupid questions that run through her mind, things that someone with _solely a physical attraction_ would not be wondering about.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

It has to be late afternoon and everyone now drags their feet along the dirt path, drained expressions on their faces.  Even Laura, once eager for a day of adventuring, lugs her feet along as if she can’t take another step.  She shouts from the back of the pack.

“Carmilla, are you sure you know where you’re going?  I mean, maybe we should have followed Perry’s map.”  She digs through her things again to find it, but seems to have misplaced it.  She curses under her breath.

“When are we going back?” Michael whines from the pack, nursing his bandaged sprained wrist.

“Yeah, I’m tiiiiiiiired,” Katie complains.

“Carmilla, I really think we’re lost.”  Laura takes in her surroundings, really not remembering or recognizing anything around her.  “Maybe we should just go back from where we came.”

“Shh, stop.”  But Carmilla really has no idea where they are, as she too does not recognize the wood.  Maybe her and Will never really went that far on their late night runs.  Telling Laura that she got them lost, however, is the last thing she needs the girl hanging over her head.  She trudges forward. “I know where we are…I think.”

“You think?”  And there it is.  The snappy, shrill Laura Carmilla knew all too well.

Laura stomps up to her companion, pushing past the small kids who whine in protest.  She stops in front of Carmilla, blocking her path. 

“Not another step until you assure me we are not lost.”

Carmilla sighs.  “We’re not lost.”  But her usual confident, cocky demeanor is gone, something that Laura notices right away.  She looks off in another direction, avoiding the caramel haired girl’s gaze.  Laura’s eyes widen as she throws her arms up in the air in defeat.

“Great, we’re lost.  Don’t think I don’t know you’re lying to me, Carmilla.  I took a body language class and have watched far too many reruns of Criminal Minds to know you’re lying.”  She starts pacing.  “I’m lost in the middle of a forest with bunch of whining children and Oscar the Grouch.  Wonderful!”

“We’re lost?” one of the kids pipes up, a hint of fear in his little voice.  Carmilla quickly turns to face him and extinguish concern.

“No we’re not lost.” She turns back to Laura and menacingly adds in her direction, “We’re. Not. Lost.”

Laura can’t believe she’s still adamant about their location and way back to the camp.  “Carmilla, we are clearly – ”

Before she can finish her reprimand, Carmilla covers her mouth with her hand to shut her up.  Personal body space is no more as they are inches from each other and Laura can’t help but feel a little turned on by it.  However, Carmilla isn’t having any of it.

“Shut up,” she hisses at her. “Do you really think telling a group of eleven year olds that we’re lost in the middle of an unknown woods is a good idea?  I thought you would have more sense than that.”

Carmilla withdraws her hand from her mouth and wipes it on her shirt, throwing one last glare at Laura.  Laura feels stupid for not thinking about the campers and only being concerned about her own well being.  She admires Carmilla for her sense and putting her in her place, the moment she grabbed her replaying in her mind, her lips still tingling from where her hand had been.

“Guys, we are _not_ lost.  I promise,” Carmilla addresses her little group.  Some don’t believe her, some sigh with relief.  “We’re just taking a little detour, there’s a really cool cliff up ahead.  You can take a lot of pictures for your Instagram or whatever it is.  Don’t worry; we will be back before dinner.  Shall we move forward?”

Half-hearted ‘Yeah!’s are the response she needs to continue forth.  She only shoots Laura a look of annoyance as she leads the group past her.  Laura hangs her head and takes her rightful place in the back of the pack.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Carmilla may have gotten the team lost, but that ‘really cool cliff’ she had been gushing about to keep the kids mind off wandering, well, cool had been quite the understatement.

Laura sits at the edge, her feet dangerously dangling down, but resting on a protruding piece of rock.  The kids walk around, silent and in awe, whipping their phones out to snap photos.  Laura had seen magic hour before, plenty of times, and in plenty of cool landscapes, but sitting on the ledge and overlooking what has to be miles and miles of vast wood and man made lakes with the sun making its slow trek downward took the cake.  All she can do is stare at the beauty, the clouds in the sky no longer puffy white, but illuminated by the bright sun, a purple tint wandering through the horizontal stripes of clouds.

Carmilla wanders over to where Laura is sitting, looking up at the sky with a satisfied grin on her face.  She looks down at her, the sky lighting up her face, her smile lighting it up even more.  She momentarily forgets how stupid Laura had been earlier that day and appreciates her awe of the view.

“You gonna take photo, cupcake?  It’ll last longer.”  Laura just shakes her head.  Carmilla sits down, her arms resting on her propped up knees and follows Laura’s gaze out.  This she did know about, often coming here to do some thinking.  From the cliff, she knew exactly how to get back to the campgrounds.  But this was her spot, her place to clear her mind, and bringing the kids and especially Laura, had been a huge deal.  Will hadn’t even accompanied her here before. 

Not that she minded that other people knew about it, but bringing people _with_ her just felt different; it felt wrong as if it were being contaminated and the only way to decontaminate it would be to destroy it.  She peeks over at Laura who, to her surprise is no longer looking the setting sun, but at Carmilla.  Her eyes glance around, trying to kill any awkwardness.

“I’m sorry for acting so dumb earlier today…” Carmilla chuckles, glad Laura’s at least admitting she was a real doofus. “I wasn’t thinking, at all.  I’m just glad one of us was able to keep a level head.”

“Camp is just about a five minute walk that way.” She points behind Laura, but Laura’s not really paying much attention and doesn’t really care. “We’re a little late getting back, people are probably worried.”

Laura laughs. “No, Danny will be worried.  I doubt anyone else will notice.”

“That’s not true.  There won’t be any bickering, they’ll be bound to realize we’re not there.”  She’s hesitant to ask the next question, why she’s not sure, but she goes for it anyway. “What’s up with you and the ginger sasquatch anyway?”

“What do you mean?”  But she knows exactly what Carmilla’s asking about and she knows just how uncomfortable she is talking about it, just by her pauses and strange beating around the bush of it all.  It’s endearing finally seeing the always ill-tempered girl squirm, no matter how psychotic that might seem.

Carmilla knows Laura is playing with her, but she doesn’t really know how to answer her question.  This is really unlike her, pausing to think of something to say, when she usually has witty or snide comeback at the ready.  She resents Laura for making her act so foolish.

So she simply shrugs. “I don’t know.  You know what, forget I asked.”

Laura rolls her eyes with a playful smile, before deciding to let her out of her misery. “We’re not really anything.  Kind of.  I don’t know.  We’re just having fun.  I think.  Danny’s a really great girl though, she’s nice and funny, caring…so, I wouldn’t say we’re _nothing_.  But I mean, it’s not like we’re in a relationship or anything.  Are we?  No, no…I don’t have time, don’t think so…” She’s pretty much just talking to herself out loud, exposing her inner thoughts for all to hear.

Carmilla smiles, mainly because of how confused Laura seems and how utterly adorable she looks trying to figure out what her fuck buddy like relationship is.  She curses herself for thinking Laura is anywhere near adorable and not simply some lovely girl she’d love to devour in more ways than just one.  But there’s also something else to that causes the smile, and she knows it has to do with Laura’s non-traditional relationship with Danny.  

“I wouldn’t peg you to be someone who ‘just fools around,’” Carmilla says, air quotes and all.

“We haven’t really done much…”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

Laura narrows her eyes. “Hey…what’s that supposed to mean?” Her tone is light, opposed to an accusatory type of tone she normally may have used before their hiking excursion.  Had something changed between then and now?  She didn’t know and she was beginning to feel like she needed to find out.

Carmilla shrugs. “You seem pretty straight laced.  Take me on a couple of dates before you even think about getting in my pants type of girl.  Never skipped a day of school in my life kind of person.  Only have sex in the dark after 9PM but before 10 because I need my full eight hours of sleep.”  Laura laughs. “Please tell me when to stop.”

“You can stop.  Yes, I had perfect attendance in school and so what if a girl likes to be, how did you put it the other day, ‘wooed before eaten?’”

“That was one of my more clever jabs.  Feel free to use it though, just do _not_ forget to give me credit.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”  There’s a shared small laugh and then silence.  Laura looks at Carmilla who’s playing with a dried patch of grass on the ground.  Finally, something that she can’t quite figure out, “Why’d you ask about Danny?”

There’s a brief moment of hesitation but it’s very short lived and doesn’t seem out of the ordinary at all.  At least Laura doesn’t notice anything unusual about it, much to Carmilla’s relief.  She had definitely noticed her hesitation and it was scaring the shit out of her.  Carmilla settles on a simple shrug, brushing . “No reason.  Some of the staff has been whispering about it, that’s all.  Just clarifying it from the source herself.”  It’s a lie to get Carmilla backed out of the corner she put herself in but Laura doesn’t know that.

“Really?  People are talking?”  Carmilla is surprised to hear serious concern laced all over her voice.  Maybe it wasn’t the best lie to choose.  She tries to extinguish yet another fire before it becomes out of control.

“It was only once, I barely heard anything.  Could have been talking about another Danny…”

“And another Laura?” It had been a stupid remark.  How many other ten-foot Dannys and three foot Lauras were waltzing around one of the smallest camps Carmilla had ever heard of?  She was surprised there was even one ten-foot Danny.

“I wouldn’t worry about it.  Don’t let other people dictate who you choose to hook up with.”

“We’re not…we’re not _hooking up_.”

Carmilla raises an eyebrow, utterly confused. “Uh, yeah you are.  What else would you call it?  ‘Having fun?’”

Laura blushes.  Yes, that’s exactly what she was going to call it. “Well, it’s not like…it’s not like I’m probably ever going to see any of you ever again.  That’s usually what happens with summer camp things, right?  The end of the summer approaches, we all go our separate ways, exchange promises of writing to each other with no intent of doing so.”

“ _Writing to each other_?  Laura, sweetheart, what age do you live in?  God, and I thought I was behind on this century’s technology.”

Laura doesn’t hear a word, only choosing to remember what it sounded like when Carmilla said her name.  Her real life name, the one given to her at birth.  She couldn’t believe it, an almost devilish grin spreading across her face.  Carmilla makes a face, not really liking where this is going.

“Do I dare ask…?”

“You said my name.”

“What?  Of course, I did…I mean, your name…wait.  What?”

Laura can’t help but laugh, her voice reaching a few octaves higher than normal.  Carmilla finally realizes her slip up, replaying her words in her head.  _Fuck_.  She had said Laura.  What in seven hells had caused that?  Finally a flow of a real conversation, maybe?  A mutual respect?

“This never happened,” she mumbles.  Laura is still laughing.

“Right, don’t want to ruin your grumpy and disaffected image.”  Laura stands up, wiping dirt off her butt.  She reaches a hand out to help Carmilla up. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Carmilla glances at Laura’s small hand and reluctantly takes it, hoisting herself up, surprised by the amount of strength coming from the small girl helping her.  Her mind travels as she remembers those curves of Laura's body and how insanely in shape and toned she actually is.  She stands up fully and realizes she’s only a mere three inches or so from Laura.  Laura knows it too, her breath getting caught in her throat but only momentarily as she tries to readjust her breathing back to normal.  Carmilla’s eyes wander from the top of Laura’s head down to her eyes, her hand still resting in Laura’s.  They lock eyes, their world swirling around them like a watercolor painting.  Laura audibly gulps, her fingers starting to dance across Carmilla’s palm.  This seems to jog Carmilla out of the trance, Laura quickly to follow, withdrawing their hands from one another.

“C’mon, we really should head back.  Perry’s probably on her way to the emergency room by now,” Laura says, breaking the silence and looking away sheepishly, nursing the hand Carmilla once held moments ago with her other and looking around to gather her backpack.

“Right.”  But that only comes out as a breathy mutter.  Carmilla had honestly forgotten about the kids they were responsible for, but they were all too busy goofing around in the nearby woods and stick fighting.  She shouts for them all to fall back in line.

The sun is definitely down by now, marking Carmilla’s favorite time of the 24-hour period.  Luckily Laura had a couple of flashlights in her backpack that she hands out for the campers to use.  Her and Laura round up the back together this time, just to make sure to keep both eyes on everyone especially in the dark.  They keep silent for a while, only the rustling of leaves and cracking of twigs under their feet to be heard. 

Laura hates the silence though and almost longs to go back to the cliff just to chat underneath the moon with Carmilla.  Sure their conversation had been short and all, but it had also been refreshing and meaningful and still playful, at least to her.  It made her stomach do backflips.  She knows once they get back to the camp, whatever little world they had created out there in those woods that day would vanish just as quickly as it had been built.  And she isn’t ready to give that up just quite yet.

“So we made it through today, huh?  Without killing each other.”

“Yeah, it’s practically a miracle.”

Laura laughs, trying hard to walk at a slow pace.  However, the tired kids say otherwise, their little feet working over time just to get back to dinner and beds.  “Believe me, last night when Perry announced who we were paired with I was less than thrilled to hear it was you.”

“Less than thrilled?  Bit of an understatement don’t you think?”

“Shut up.”  But she’s not bitter.  In fact, she’s far from it, beginning to love every moment that they were currently having.  She felt comfortable, challenged of course, but comfortable.  Never had she ever been this way with anyone so quickly, especially one she normally couldn’t stand being alone in the same room with for more than five minutes.  She looks at Carmilla who must have taken her ‘Shut Up’ seriously.  The moon hits her face just right, of course it does, and Laura thanks the heavens for gracing her with such outstanding and attractive physical features.

Laura hates the silence.

“I didn’t mean for you to actually stop talking.”

“We’re back.”  Carmilla changes subjects quickly and Laura doesn’t miss the change of tone either.  She looks towards the campgrounds, which are becoming closer and closer, her heart starting to sink lower and lower into her chest, knowing that any cordial or friendly feeling with Carmilla was about to disappear for good.  Or at least for a while.

She takes a deep breath in, inhaling the surroundings and trying to brace herself for the change.  But something feels off and she realizes it as soon as she’s finished inhaling.  She frowns, glancing around.  She finally spots something orange illuminating the top of one of the buildings.

“Guess we’re having a bonfire tonight,” Carmilla mutters.  Laura hears her as they break from the edge of the forest and make their way around some of the other bunks.  Suddenly a high piercing shriek comes from Katie, who stands frozen in her tracks and screaming at the top her lungs.  Carmilla and Laura’s gaze wander quickly from the wailing girl and follow her eye line, rounding the last of the cabins, their own eyes growing as large as saucers.

“You’ve got to be fucking with me,” Carmilla mumbles.

It’s no bonfire that’s illuminating one of buildings but none other than one of the cabins engulfed in raging flames.


	5. Chapter 5

Laura can’t take her eyes off the magnificent flame as it rocks the usual dark night sky. She’s transfixed and everything around her temporarily does not exist.  She can feel her blood pressure rising, her anxiety running in over drive. The rest of the kids have joined in on the screaming but she doesn’t hear them.  Someone is shouting at her, she’s sure it’s probably Carmilla, but she stays rooted to the ground, her eyes unblinking. She feels her breathing heighten, her lungs working over time as the smell of burning wood meet her nostrils. She suddenly feels faint, dizzy. She can’t remember if she grabs her head or tries to prevent herself from falling over, but she knows just by the way her body is responding she’s not going to stay conscious for very much longer.

“Laura!” Carmilla shouts her name over and over again, but nothing seems to wake the girl from whatever trance the fire has put her in.  “Laura!”

Carmilla sees Sam and LaF run over to her, gathering the kids, Sam running them over to the rest of the campers huddled on the opposite side of the flaming bunk.

“What’s up with her?” LaF asks, shouting over the chaos.  Carmilla doesn’t take her eyes off Laura.

“I don’t know.” She’s hesitant about putting a hand on her, unsure how she might respond.  “Laura!”

And suddenly, she’s falling, her eyes fluttering shut.  Instinct grabs a hold of Carmilla as she quickly leans down to prevent Laura from a hard impact with the ground, taking her in her arms.  Carmilla’s knee is on the ground, Laura resting on the other one, unconscious.  She pushes a strand of hair out of her face and looks at her stone cold face. She looks back up to LaF, who wears a look of concern.

“She’s unconscious. We’re too close to the flames; I’m going to have to carry her.  As soon as we’re a safe distance away, find a cold cloth, some water, and the nurse.” LaF nods in understanding.

“Where are you going?”

Carmilla stands up, holding Laura bridal style.  She’s not nearly as heavy as anything Carmilla’s lugged around and she tries to brace her head as best she can.  They start off quickly in the other direction.

“I need to find Will. Have you seen him?”

LaF shrugs, trying to keep up with Carmilla who jogs with an amazing speed for someone who’s also carrying their weight in their arms.  “No, I haven’t.  Granted, I didn’t really see anyone as soon as the fire started.”

Carmilla bites her lip, nervous for what that might mean.  She knew he had something to do with the blaze, but also the cabin on fire was his and Kirsch’s.  They put some distance behind them from the fire to where the campers and staff are. Danny is the first to jump up upon seeing Laura unconscious. 

“Laura!”

“Move.” Carmilla spits flatly, starting to get a bit worn down by the girl in her arms.

“Here, put her over here,” LaF says, getting people to clear some space.  Carmilla sets her down on a soft patch of grass. Danny sheds the hoodie she’s wearing and balls it up as a makeshift pillow for Laura to lay her head down on. Carmilla stays hovered over the unconscious girl just a beat longer than she normally probably would have, pure concern radiating from her dark eyes as they dart around her stone face. She curses herself for caring so much and stands up.  She turns to Danny.

“Make sure she drinks enough water when she wakes up.  Find the nurse.”

Danny nods and quickly bends down over Laura.  Carmilla has already put some distance between herself and the group as her eyes dart around every which way for any sight of her brother.  She rounds a corner, the fire coming into better view once again. It’s contained, but it’s still raging high in the air.  She approaches it to get a better look and recognizes it as no ordinary fire.

“Damn it.” She looks around. “Will! William!”

Her eyes finally land on a dark shadow leaning up against a tree a few yards out. Her eyes narrow as she marches up to it.

Will’s arms are crossed as he plays with a bit of bark on a tree.  He looks up just in time to see his furious sister raging towards him, hand ready to slap him across the face.  He catches it before it can make contact.

“Let go of me.” Her voice is cold, icy, something she hardly ever uses with Will, normally being able to have patience with her kin.

He lets go of her arm, but she withdraws it back to her side.  But she’s furious.

“What the hell were you thinking?  Using Wild Fire on that bunk?  You know it can’t be put out by normal means and you know there aren’t any fire trucks within a hundred miles radius.”

“Relax, sis. It was an accident. It’ll be out in a matter of minutes.”

“How does starting a cursed fire an accident?”

“Mother left us a little gift while you were off traipsing through the woods.”

Carmilla frowns. “Funny how she always paying you visits when I’m gone.”

“As I was saying. She brought us a little gift basket of goodies to make our job easier.  I was going through it and may have accidentally dropped the Wild Fire ball she gave us.”  Carmilla groans, rolling her eyes. Will continues. “It may have accidentally caught on something in my bunk and here we are.  Don’t worry, Kirsch wasn’t there or anything, I was alone.”

But Carmilla isn’t really concerned with the actual fire anymore and she surely doesn’t care about whether or not Kirsch was in the cabin.  The flames were already going down and soon enough it’d be out. She was more interested in the items their mother left them.  She eyes Will.

“Did you happen to grab the other stuff she gave us?”

Will nods and pulls out a vial from his pocket. “She didn’t leave much.  Just the Wild Fire for a distraction, which…worked, to an extent.”

“Timing wasn’t great. But, whatever. What else?”

“Just these little pill things.”  He holds up the vial containing two small white capsules and Carmilla quickly grabs it out of his hand, stuffing it in her pocket.  “Hey!”

“I’ll hold on to those. You clearly have no sense of responsibility.”  Will rolls his eyes and pouts like a child.  Carmilla knows exactly what the pills will do, but something nags at the back of her mind.  Why had she given them two capsules and not just one?  The capsules were rather hard to get a hold of, and no matter how powerful her mother was, she was no exception.  It’s a fleeting thought as the duo realizes that the fire has gone out, leaving a smoldering skeleton of Will and Kirsch’s former bunk. 

“The full moon is in two weeks, try not to fuck anything else up, okay?  Weren’t you the one who told me to keep my head down?”

Will doesn’t respond, but continues to pout and follows his sister out of the woods and back to the campground.  He disappears quickly, but Carmilla doesn’t care, now only one thing on her mind. She practically runs back over to where the campers and staff are huddled together.  The kids now look bored, sitting on the grass idly picking at the grass.  Carmilla doesn’t really care about them, or anyone else really, her eyes darting around to find one person in particular.

A huge sigh of relief emits from Carmilla when she spots Laura sitting up, even if Danny sits behind her bracing her up.  She composes herself, not wanting to seem too caring when she walks back over to the group.

“Hey, fire’s out,” she says flatly.  LaF frowns.

“Already? But that’s impossible…”

“It’s out,” she repeats, annoyed. “Just a burnt as hell cabin left.” She looks at Laura who sits, sipping from a water bottle. “You okay?”

Laura looks up at Carmilla.  Her voice is flat, but as soon as she gazes into her eyes she knows there’s an underlying tone of caring. But Laura’s face stays stoic, mainly just tired from the day and passing out. She nods.

“I’m fine.” She gives her a weak smile. “Thanks.”

Carmilla nods shortly. Nobody says anything else, Danny talking to Laura in a hushed tone.  Perry comes around gathering the campers as Sam, LaF, and Kirsch help them back to their bunks.  Carmilla sighs, and wanders off, finding that her help isn’t really needed. What was she sticking around for anyway?

Laura doesn’t really hear what Danny’s saying to her.  She nods every so often, but keeps her head down, staring blankly at a rock in the grass.  Her mind continues to race around the sight of the fire and how she had felt as soon as she laid eyes on it. Vague but vivid memories had come racing back.  Screams, and rain, fire and chaos was all she remembered as it all meshed together since it happened so many years ago.  She remembers fainting after being sucked into the flames’ enchantment.  She remembers Carmilla yelling her name, trying to get her to snap out of it. And then she was out cold.  

When she had come to, she remembered seeing Danny’s face hovering over her and Danny telling someone to fetch a bottle of water.  The scent of burning had come rushing back to her and it all started over again, taking her back to that day years and years ago.

Laura shudders just thinking about what had happened.  Danny notices and frowns.

“Hey, you alright?”

Laura looks around and locks eyes with Danny whose eyes are glazed with concern and worry. “Yeah…I’m fine.  What were you saying?”

Danny looks at Laura skeptically but doesn’t make much of it. “Uh, you kept asking for Carmilla and kept saying ‘Save her, save her, go back, go back, save her’ over and over again.”

Laura’s eyes close, knowing exactly why she had been screaming that.  Danny tilts her head, trying to get a read of Laura’s expression.

“I don’t want to pry but…what does, what…?”

Laura shakes her head and puts on a brave face, a small smile spreading across her face. “Nothing. It was nothing, probably just some bad dream that was coming back or something.  I’m fine, honestly, I’m okay.”

Danny doesn’t buy it, but doesn’t push it any further.  She helps Laura to her feet and walks her back to her cabin.

“You sure you don’t want to hang out in the rec room?” she asks when they make it to her front door. “Me and LaF were going to have another go at the Mario Kart, can go doubles if we can get Sam or Perry to play.”

Laura shakes her head. She’s tired and all she wants to do is lay her head down on her semi-soft twin mattress.  “Not tonight.  I’m exhausted and kind of just passed out.  I’m just going to head in.”

Danny nods in understanding. “Totally.  You had a long day, Hollis.  Catch ya later?”

Danny leans down to give her a kiss, but Laura turns her head away, an entirely different topic starting to seep into her mind.  Danny’s taken aback for a moment, but stands back up straight, trying to make Laura’s rejection not seem so awkward.  Laura smiles softly, waving at a retreating Danny as she trudges up almost at half speed up to her cabin.

The door creaks open. Somewhere, Laura hopes that Carmilla might be there, another part of her really hoping she’ll have some alone time. The latter is the truer as she walks in and looks at the empty, messy bed.  She sighs, almost in relief and plops down on her own neatly made up mattress. She stares up at the ceiling, a pounding feeling starting to come back to her head.  She groans and turns over on her side so she’s face Carmilla’s empty space.

Upon staring at where her grumpy bunkmate normally slept, she starts to think about the day’s events through the woods.  It seems like ages ago now with the whole commotion of the fire but the whole day replayed just as vividly as if it had happened moments ago.

Laura had been surprised at how little bickering took place between her and Carmilla that day. She had been impressed by the way Carmilla handled some of the situations they had found themselves in. She found herself staring at her more than normal, and dreaming about what it might be like if they were actually friends. Their conversation at the cliff had felt like they had known each other for years.  The pauses and silences felt normal, comfortable, right. She catches herself smiling at the thought and just how Carmilla had acted like a nervous teenager on a first date.

Laura turns over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling and grinning like a village idiot. She hadn’t felt this way in a long time, pining after someone like a dazed schoolgirl.  Next thing she knows, she’ll be drawing hearts on her clipboard and “LH + CK = <3” in the sand.

 _Good, God_.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Thanks.” Laura eyes the breakfast food plopped down on her tray, suspiciously; LaF does the same behind her in line. “So, like I was saying…”

“You think you’ve got a crush on your psycho, terrible bunkmate.”

Laura frowns. She hadn’t been that direct about it, in fact, she hadn’t even mentioned Carmilla or the word crush the more she thought about it.  “No…that’s not what I said.”

“Mm, that’s basically what you said.  You said, and I quote.” LaF clears their throat, readying her best Laura impression, “‘What do you think one would do if they had, say, well, couldn’t stop thinking about someone even if they know that person is probably not any good for said person?  Like in a I-kind-of-like-you-more-than-a-friend kind of way?’ How’d I do?”

Laura grumbles, taking a seat at an empty counselor table. “Pretty well actually.” LaF takes a seat across from her and starts to peel an orange. “But I didn’t say, I didn’t mention anyone’s name.”

“You didn’t have to. Who else would you be talking about? Obviously not Danny, you two have been on each other for a while now, and she would probably be pretty good for you in a more realistic situation.”  They take a bite from her food. “It’s quite clearly Carmilla.”

Laura groans, scrunching her face and slumping in her seat. “God, am I that obvious?”

“What changed? It’s not like you two are Lucy and Ethel.  More like Tom and Jerry.”

“Ugh, I don’t know. We went on that hiking trip and didn’t fight and it was…nice.  I saw these tiny glimpses of what she’s like when she doesn’t hate the world all the time and when she smiles, and not just that stupid smirk of hers, which I won’t lie, can be pretty…” A dream look spreads across Laura’s face and she’s pretty much just talking aloud again.  LaF frowns. “And, like you said earlier, she doesn’t lack the attractive gene.  Not to be artificial or anything but just…wow.”  Laura snaps out of it, realizing LaF hasn’t said much and she’s rambling.  They make eye contact and LaF can’t help but chuckle.

“Oh, God.” Laura’s head hits the table, just missing her tray.

They laugh at Laura’s expense.  She pats her on the arm. “There, there.”

Laura’s head snaps up. “So what do I do?  I can’t have a crush on Carmilla Karnstein.”

“Why not?”

“Why not? Why not?  Oh, I don’t know, because she’s just…she’s just so negative. You know me, LaF. I love everything.”

They nod. “Yes, that is almost true.”

“So you get it?”

They shake their head a firm ‘No.’ “I don’t get it.  Laura, it’s just a _crush_. It’ll pass so don’t worry about it. Nothing to lose sleep over. Plus, we’re at a _summer camp_.  It’s not like you’re bound to see her ever again after this month is over. Just, keep doing what you’re doing with Danny and forget about Carmilla.”

At that moment, Laura looks up to see a sleepy looking Carmilla enter the cafeteria. She heads over to the kitchen and grabs an apple.  Her eyes gaze around the half empty space for a place to sit.  Laura prays that she doesn’t choose her and LaF’s table, as she’s the last person Laura wants to deal with right now.  However, Laura does feel her heart sink just a bit when Carmilla walks straight back out the door after grabbing what she needed.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Carmilla had definitely noticed Laura sitting over with LaFontaine.  She even almost went to join them, but decided against it, opting to sit outside under a tree.  So here she now sits, leaned up against a large, rough tree trunk.  It’s a nice tree, one of her favorites, kind of hidden away from the rest of the camp and by the lake, also one of her favorite spots, much like the cliff.  The branches hang lazily off of it creating almost a willow tree effect, bright green leaves shading out the sunlight.  The air is hot, but it’s nothing new.

Carmilla takes a large bite out of her apple, the juices dripping out from the sides of her mouth. She wipes them up as best she can with her tongue before taking another bite.  She watches the kids in the lake and the two lifeguards lounging out on a makeshift raft about eight yards out from the shoreline.  She scoffs at them, as they don’t really seem like they’re doing their job.

If Laura had been on lifeguard duty, she _never_ would have let that happen.

“What the fuck?” Carmilla mutters under her breath.  She frowns, scrunching up her face, absolutely disgusted by the thought she just had. Where the hell had that come from? Laura, of all people. She spits out an apple seed to the ground with fervor.

Maybe it had just been Carmilla wanting to think about Laura in the minimal amount of clothing possible.  She tries to convince herself that that’s it, but as of late, Carmilla had been having various thoughts of the small woman that weren’t necessarily purely of a, what had she called it, “physical attraction.”

She can’t help herself though.  Even when she had entered that cafeteria earlier that morning, she wanted nothing more than to just go over to Laura and talk with her.  Not necessarily kiss her, or take her right there on the table, although the image wasn’t an unpleasant one.  Maybe if LaFontaine hadn’t been there, she would have.  She tries to convince herself that, no, she never would have done that.

Carmilla whines, resting her head back against the tree trunk. “God, what is wrong with me?” Maybe it was simply a raw desire to try and connect with another person on a more personal level other than either pure disgust or simply just friends with benefits.  Carmilla hated the phrase ‘friends with benefits’ because the people she found herself having sexual relations with were _never_ her friends.  Carmilla didn’t do friends.  She didn’t even do acquaintances, really.  And she definitely did _not_ do relationships.

“Fool,” she curses to herself.

“Hey.” It’s halfway between chipper and flat as hell.  Carmilla’s head snaps in its direction and is met by Laura’s small stature standing a few feet away. She licks her lips subconsciously as she devours Laura’s choice of attire, her bare stomach and toned legs looking rather enticing.  Laura notes her staring and blushes.

“Hi.”

Laura doesn’t know what to say next, not really sure why she even acknowledged Carmilla’s presence. “I just…I wanted to thank you.”

Carmilla raises an eyebrow.  “Anything in particular, cutie, or just being friendly?”

“Oh no, I just…it’s for yesterday, it’s silly really, but you saved me or helped me, whatever you want to call it.”

“Gosh, you make me sound like Superman or something.  I’m flattered.”

Laura gives her an amused look, tilting her off to the side.  Carmilla looks back out across the lake, hoping maybe it would make Laura leave. She glances sideways when she can still feel her eyes on her.

“What?” Her tone isn’t snappy, but soft and curious. 

Laura becomes flustered, shaking her head and looking away immediately. “Nothing, nothing. I…I’ll talk to you later?” Her voice is almost hopeful.

Carmilla isn’t really sure how to respond right away.  In reality, she’d actually love to sit down and talk with her later, but was that really what she was going to tell her?  Where was this going anyhow?  She surprises herself though, nodding with a small smile, trying to hide it from Laura. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

Laura perks up, equally taken by surprise by Carmilla’s response.  “Oh, okay, great.  I’m just gonna…yeah, cool.”

She scampers off with a small wave.  Carmilla watches her go down to the lake and interact happily with one of the campers. She smiles as she feels her cheeks and body becoming warm at the sight of Laura being so helpful, being so…her. If there had been any doubt in her mind earlier, it was close to a big zero as she finds herself admiring the things Laura does, the movements she makes, her general presence on Earth period.

“Carmilla.”

She stiffens, all thoughts of Laura vanishing immediately at the sound of the icy voice. Her breathing intensifies becoming harder and much more stressed.  She dares not to turn around; almost afraid of whom she is positive she will see. She takes a deep breath, slowly but surely moving her body to face the source of the voice. Her eyes narrow when she doesn’t see anybody. She rises only slightly, peeking around the tree, but there’s nobody there.  Maybe the voice had been in her head.

“Carmilla.”

There it is again, only this time more of a whisper as if calling out to her. She stands up and hesitantly walks into the woods, the lingering last syllable of her name drawing her farther and farther in.  She puts one foot in front of the other, her heart racing.  Around her, the sky turns dark, the trees feeling as though they’re closing around her. She stops and turns her head back towards where she had just come from.  She can see that the sun still shines brightly and the sky is as clear as can be. She takes in her own surroundings, much darker, much more threatening.  She turns toward where she’s headed and gulps loudly.  Her path is dark, uninviting.

“Carmilla.”

She sighs, knowing exactly what this is about.  Her confidence comes back and she trudges toward the sound of the voice. She soon happens into the clearing only moments later, it looking much less happy than when her and Laura took the campers there the other day.  She puts on a sarcastic smirk, her attitude copping as soon as she lays eyes on her mother and Will standing there waiting for her.

“Well, well, well. Look who decided to finally pay me a little visit.  Hello, mother.”

Their mother does not hold a look of amusement across her stern, sharp face.  Her features are just as defined as her children’s, a permanent “bitchy resting face” slapped across it.  Has this woman ever laughed in her life?  She stands tall, giving her at least a few more inches than if she was slumped over and she’s just as attractive as Carmilla and Will. She does not immediately respond to her daughter’s jab, staring at her, arms crossed across her chest.

At her mother’s silence, Carmilla rolls her eyes, slowly pacing around in a circle. “Thought you might have forgotten I was even a part of your little scheme. Last I figured I was a pretty integral part.”

“I’m becoming impatient.  Things have changed.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Oh really?  Your little messenger boy must have forgot to mention that little detail.”  She shoots a look over at Will who wears a smirk, but refuses to look at his sister. 

“William tells me you have the capsules.”

“I mistrusted your judgment, mother.  With what the fire and all the other night, didn’t want little Willy to lose our precious ammo.”

“Fair point. I assume you know what to do with them?”

“I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“Do you have them with you now?”

Carmilla frowns and shakes her head. “Of course I don’t.  Not planning on kidnapping anyone today, sorry to disappoint.”

Their mother nods curtly.  “And the girl.  I hear you've figured out who my darling little victim will be this time, wasn't too difficult, was it?"  Carmilla rolls her eyes, arms crossed.  "William also tells me you’re starting to become a little chummy, shall I say, with the darling human?”

“Depends on your definition of chummy.  We went on a hike together, which I’m positive you must have had something to do with.” Carmilla glares at her menacingly. “Other than that, I wouldn’t give her much thought.”

A small pang somewhere in Carmilla strikes her as soon as the sentence is over, but she doesn’t physically show it, even if it did take her by surprise. She continues to stare at her mother with a hard look in her eyes.

She continues on, “I can’t even fathom what you may want the girl for anyhow. She’s pretty useless if you ask me. Not really your… _type_.”  A pause, nobody says a word.  Carmilla eyes her mother’s stony face. “What do you plan on doing with her?”

A wicked grin spreads across her face, along with a short, “humph” sound as if she would tell her daughter any part of her plan. “Nothing that concerns you, my darling. Have I ever been so forthcoming with my plans?  Tsk, tsk, you should know better.”

Her tone is nothing but condescending and reeks with arrogance.  Carmilla rolls her eyes, knowing that the question was a stupid one. Of course her mother wasn’t going to tell her anything.  She shrugs and sighs. “Was there a reason for this family gathering?  I like to keep the reunions at a minimum.”

“I need the girl next weekend.  Plans had to be altered, adjustments had to be made.”  Carmilla and Will exchange looks.  She frowns at his glance, something off about him and the way his look was making her feel.  She’s also not sure how she feels about having to give Laura up so soon, or at all really? Between the normalcies that Carmilla had been leading these days, she almost nearly forgot that none of it was actually real. 

“What happened to the whole ominous full moon thing?  I was looking forward to writing about that in my memoir,” Carmilla sneers. Will finds it slightly amusing, chuckling at the comment, whereas their mother doesn’t find the humor.

“Don’t worry about it. You finish this task and I promise you it will be your last.”

Carmilla raises an eyebrow, surprised at her mother’s decree. “Really?  There has to be a catch.”

She simply shakes her head.  “No catch. You’re free of your dear mother’s demands and needs.”  There’s a gleam of untrustworthiness in her tone and her eyes, but Carmilla doesn’t really care, only thinking about what her life would be like if she didn’t have to dote on her mother’s every beck and call.  She could do some traveling again, go back to Europe or even explore some places she’d never got the chance to in the past 300 some years. Maybe Laura could even come along.

That is, if her mother wasn’t planning on murdering her.

She looks back at her mother once again.  “Fine. Next weekend.”

“Next weekend,” she repeats back.  “Midnight.” There it is. “This spot. Do not bring anyone else.”

Neither Will nor Carmilla are able to get in another word or question in with their mother as she disappears in a gust of wind.  A moment later and there’s not a single sign of the treacherous woman. Neither one has much to say.

“Always a pleasure,” Will finally says.

“God, she’s the worst.” Carmilla starts back, stomping through the woods on the path she came.  The forest is starting to lighten up once again, going back to the normal day’s weather and cheery mood.  Will is hot on her trail, right behind her.

“Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to have a mother who bakes cookies and goes to PTA meetings?” Carmilla wonders out loud.  Will shrugs.

“She does have that book club thing.  Told me they read _Raisin in the Sun_ last week.”

“She talks to you about her book club?”

“I’ve always been her favorite.”

“That’s a lie.”

“Well, at least as of late.” Will starts to get defensive and whiny, much to Carmilla’s annoyance.  “Remember that pack of werewolves I trapped last month.  To this day she still brings up what an excellent job I did.”

“Only because you have this undying need to constantly have your ego stroked.”

They finally make it to the edge of the wood.  Activities still go on, and they duo squint up at the sun and look away quickly.

“I’m never forgiving her for sending us to her stupid summer camp.  Oh, God.”  She sighs and looks away upon laying her eyes on a rather furious looking Perry whose current target is the siblings.  She hears Will groan too.

“There you two are,” she scolds, waving her clipboard at them.  “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.  William, you’re supposed to be at kickball and Carmilla you have arts and crafts going on in the arts and crafts room. Let’s go.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Holy shit.” Carmilla mutters.  She stares at a drawing Katie holds up for her to admire.  She takes it from her to study it closer. The drawing is a ridiculously accurate charcoal, well in this case #2 Ticonderoga pencil, depiction of her broody self staring out across the lake.

“My mom says that’s a bad word, but I hear my older sister say it all the time,” Katie says.  “I drew you staring at the water since you do that more than pay attention to us.”

Carmilla doesn’t really hear what Katie says, but studies the picture better. She notices a little figure drawn over to the side.  She points to it. “K, what’s that?”

Katie tilts her head. “Oh, that’s counselor Laura.  You stare at her a lot too.”

She immediately feels the red go to her cheeks as she quickly gives the picture back to Katie.  “Here, it’s good.” Katie beams and skips back off to show her drawing off to her brother and her friends. 

“I do not stare,” she mumbles to herself.  She looks at one of her other campers who stares back at her. “I don’t stare, I don’t…” The camper looks at her as if she’s crazy.  Maybe she is, who knows.

Brock sits over at his clay wheel and groans.  Carmilla walks over to him and stares down watching his small messy hands try and mold the goopy material.  He’s doing it all wrong.  She bends down to help him.

“You have to be much more gentle, kid.  Mold it softly; if you do it too rough it won’t look like anything. You ever seen that movie, ‘Ghost?’” He stares at her with a blank expression.  “Of course you haven’t.”  Carmilla continues to show him the proper technique for a few moments more before letting him take back over.  She stands up, satisfied with her instruction.  A few other kids had been looking on, having trouble with their own clay wheels, and now applying the tricks Carmilla had given Brock.

Suddenly, the door bursts open, revealing a sweaty looking Laura, her hair pulled up in a sloppy ponytail, her chest heaving up and down from running, or some overexertion.  Nobody seems to take much notice of her disruption except Carmilla, who quickly spins around approaching the sudden intruder.  She picks up a paintbrush, balancing it between two fingers.

“Lost, sweetheart?”

Laura shakes her head. “Oh, sorry, no.  I was looking for Danny…I thought she was in here.”  She smiles, a bit flustered and takes in her surroundings. She laughs to herself at the sight of Carmilla standing awkwardly with an apron splattered with paint and wet clay.

“What?” she asks upon Laura’s laugh.  Laura shakes her head, but can’t hide the smile still on her face.

“Nothing…it’s just, you, you’ve got a lot going on…” She gestures all around her own body. Carmilla rolls her eyes, but with a smile. Without realizing it, she flicks her paintbrush at Laura, a dot of blue paint flying off of it and landing on Laura’s face.  Carmilla turns and paces around her campers all busy in various art activities. Laura doesn’t even notice the paint splatter.

“I’m training _artistes_ here, cupcake. Who knows?  One of these little brats, no offense guys, might be the next Van Gogh. Feel free to see yourself out, I don’t need my little prodigies disrupted.”  She faces Laura, pointing a paintbrush at her.  “Unless you have something you need to ask me, which in that case I’ll see if I have an answer for you.”

Laura bites her bottom lip, pausing for a moment longer than needed. Her eyes gaze over her fellow counselor who just stares at her with a half smirk, twirling that paintbrush between her fingers.  Her mind momentarily imagines those lithe fingers doing magic somewhere else, but she shakes the thought, cursing herself for thinking such sinful things.

“No…I don’t.  I’ll just go then. See you at dinner.” The last bit is a quick after thought as she climbs out of the hut of a building.  She can feel Carmilla’s eyes at the back of her head, following her out and she wonders what was going through her mind.  Out of anybody she’d ever met, Carmilla Karnstein was definitely the first person she could never be able to read.

Laura spots Danny trudging up the grassy hill, her campers following in line behind her.  Danny grins wide when she sees Laura coming towards her.

“Hey there.  Having some fun in the arts building?”

“What?”

Danny brushes the blue paint off of Laura’s face the best she can. She shows her the evidence now on her thumb when she’s finished.  Laura smiles.

“Oh that…Carmilla must have…” she trails off, unsure what to say. Danny frowns for a moment.

“Must have…?  What’d she do?” Her tone almost sounds defensive, ready to pounce on some evildoer who may have harmed Laura with the tiniest of paint splatters.  Laura waves her off so she doesn’t get the wrong message.

“Oh nothing, nothing.  Don’t worry about it.  Harmless fun.”

Danny narrows her eyes and gives her a side eye. “If you say so.” She turns to her campers. “Alright guys, wash up for dinner then it’s movie night.  Their playing ‘Amazing Spider Man’ starting at 7.”  They run off to their cabins, leaving Danny and Laura behind.  “I hate ‘The Amazing Spider Man.’ Way too early for a reboot if you ask me.”

They start towards their own bunks.  Laura shrugs.  “Never seen it.”

“You’re not missing out on much.  Sam Raimi’s original was the best.  Not three though, never three.  We don’t talk about it.”

“Never seen either one of those either.”  Danny stops dead in her tracks and turns to her smaller companion.

“You’ve _never_ seen any Spiderman movies? Laura Hollis, do you live under a rock?”

“Pretty much.  Dad says there’s too much violence, so we stick to things like ‘You’ve Got Mail’ and ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding,’ although he almost didn’t let me watch the latter because of the adulterous undertones.  You know, pining away after someone you can’t have.”  She can’t help but think of Carmilla for a second.  That’s what it was; her life was like a romantic comedy, only a poorly written lesbian version.  But it wasn’t like Carmilla was off limits by any means, at least not physically, just off limits per Laura’s set of morals and beliefs.

Danny gives a weird look and nods, trying to understand what’s going on. “Sure…” She shrugs, giving up. “We’ll have a Marvel action movie marathon someday.  That is, if you think you’re up for it.”

“Sounds like fun…” But she’s not really paying attention anymore.

“Trust me, you’re missing out.  Listen, I’m going to go clean up.  Save me a seat at dinner?” Laura doesn’t answer and instead stares off into space.  “Laura?” Danny waves a hand in front of her face, jolting Laura out of her trance.

“Oh sorry, what?  Right, dinner, of course. I’ll see you there.” Laura dashes off before Danny does, leaving the tall ginger in a state of major confusion as she watches her disappear into her own bunk.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The lights are off and the recreation room has been transformed into a makeshift movie theater.  Some campers sit on their blankets on the floor, others on beanbags and pushed together couches. Stray popcorn litters the floor, leading an enticing trail for any mouse that may have found their way into the cozy quarters that evening.  The only light comes from the illuminated large projector entertaining the kids with a swinging superhero. Perry sits in the back going through paperwork via a small lamp with one of the assistant camp directors. Kirsch stares at the movie, just as enthralled with it as the kids.  Laura cozies up to Danny on one of the couches shared with LaF and Sam.

And Carmilla sits off to the side in one of the large armchairs she took all for herself before dinner so nobody else would claim it for the movie. She every so often takes her eyes away from the movie and glances over at the couch where most of the counselors sit, a few in particular whom are at the target of her daggers. She feels a sharp pain hit her like lightning every time her eyes land on Laura sitting pretty with the ginger giantess.

God, she hates Danny.

It was stupid really, all their dumb cuddling and passive personal displays of affection.  They weren’t even dating or doing anything but being stupidly cute.  Hell, they weren’t even _fucking_ , which was what a summer hookup usually _always_ entailed. 

But maybe not for Saint Laura Hollis.  Maybe her idea of a summer hookup was to play house and share Eskimo kisses and get cozy during movies. 

Carmilla finds herself glaring at the duo, a bit longer than usual this time, only to have Laura instantly lock eyes with her right before she was about to look back at the movie.  There’s a beat before she finally very quickly, hoping that Laura didn’t notice, turns away, slumping further into the arm chair and tucking her head way down.

 _Fucking fuck_.

Laura rolls her eyes at Carmilla’s childish behavior from across the room, but can’t help but contain a smile to herself, secretly pleased for once that Carmilla was shooting daggers at her and what she also guessed were for Danny as well.  She glances over at the armchair again, but a wave of disappointment surges through her upon seeing that it’s empty.  She scans the dark room to see if maybe she got up to get a drink or maybe even a bowl of popcorn, but gives up when she doesn’t return any time soon.  She tries to turn her attention back to the movie.

There was no way Carmilla would have been able to stomach another minute in that damn room.  With what the body heat, the subpar Sony reboot, and the lovebirds making their case in there, it was a wonder that she hadn’t been suffocated already.  She inhales a large whiff of her surroundings, the night air stuffy but cooler and already ten times better than the rec room.

The night is quieter than usual, the trees stilling from a lack of wind and the night animals nearly silent.  Carmilla frowns, visually taking in her surroundings.  Nothing seems out of place, but something is. She glances up at the sky, and even though it’s night, she can make out the clouds, much darker than normal.

“What the…”

“Carm! Carm!”  She turns at the sound of her name.  Will comes emerging from the woods, nearly out of breath.

“What is it?  What’s going on?”

“Storm. One of mother’s.  She must not have been too pleased with your derisive attitude today."

"Or she didn't like the end of  _Raisin in the Sun_."

She doesn’t need any further explanation.  She doesn’t say another word as the once absent wind starts to pick up in a matter of seconds, blowing the trees almost sideways and sending loose debris everywhere.  Carmilla feels the small droplets of rain start, creating a coolness against her skin. She looks up at the sky, a low rumble starting.  It’s about to burst any minute now.

“We gotta go.” Will starts to drag her away back toward the forest. “There’s a safe house about half a mile this way.”

Carmilla stops, pulling her brother’s hand off of her arm. She’s going to regret this, but that’s how most things usually ended up working with her.  “We can’t leave them.”

The angels above roll a strike, causing Carmilla and Will to nearly jump out of their skin.  There’s no use running now; everyone at the camp and within a hundred miles of it knows there’s a storm and knows it’s not going to be pretty.  Will lets out a frustrated groan.

“Now’s not really the time to be chivalrous, sis.  Plus, the safe house is only so big.  Can’t fit more than five people.”

“We should at least try and get them safely under their beds or something.”

“It’ll pass over!  They’ll be _fine_. Let’s just go!”

The skies decide at that moment it’s the best time to split, rain starting to pour down in sheets.  The power at the camp is still on, and Carmilla sees the lights to the recreation room flick on, and eager faces jumping towards the window to see the storm start outside. Carmilla stands between her brother and the main base camp, equidistant from both.  She looks between the two, the struggle clear on her soaked face.

_God damnit._

She runs up back to the rec room.  Will rolls his eyes and starts to follow after her.

They burst through the door, soaked to the bone.  Some of the kids jump away from the window. Perry runs up to them.

“How bad is it?”

“It’s going to get worse.  We should get everyone somewhere safer,” Carmilla says to an almost neurotic Perry. “There are a lot of windows in here.”

Perry nods.  It’s a side of Carmilla she has never seen before, and she’s not about to argue with her. “Of course. Emergency procedures will commence.” She claps her hands together, trying so hard to keep it all together.  “Counselors, head count.  Kids, find your designated counselor immediately.  Let’s go people.”

Everything happens all at once, the campers trying to touch base with their mentors, some of them scared out of their wits as the storm outside only continues to become stronger and stronger.  Carmilla half-heartedly performs her head count.  She frowns when Laura’s kids start to congregate near her own, making the head count much more difficult.

“Where’s Laura?”  Her head whips around, but there’s no sign of the fair-haired girl. 

“I thought she went to find you,” Danny says upon hearing Carmilla. Confused, Carmilla frowns.

“What? Why would she try and find me? I was gone for all of five seconds.”

“Trust me, I have no idea.”  There’s definitely an underlying snark to her voice, but Carmilla ignores it, starting to become increasingly more worried about the absence of her bunkmate.

Perry leads everyone down the hall to a the Reading Room, a smaller area that actually looks quite cozy for what it’s name calls for. They all file in, settling down. Carmilla redoes her headcount, making sure all six of her and all six of Laura’s campers are present. There’s still no sign of Laura herself, though.

Danny beats her to it though. “Perr, she’s not here.”

Perry glances around quickly, frowning.  “She’s probably still…maybe, she’s…”

“Perry.” Her voice is stern. “I’m going to go look for her.”

Danny starts towards the door, putting LaF in charge of her kids. However, Perry continues to look around the room, her frown settling even deeper on her face. She quickly rushes in front of Danny, blocking her way.

“Perry, move!”

“No! Carmilla’s gone now too.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

The rain comes down in sheets, falling nearly horizontal. The trees bang into one another with no respect to each other’s space, twigs, leaves and branches becoming severed from their home.  Carmilla can hardly see a thing as she runs down the steps from the building she was just in. She knows calling out for Laura is useless; her voice would just get lost amongst the chaos. She staggers across the campus, as best she can until she reaches their shared cabin.  She pushes the creaky door open, the wind and rain coming in through the open windows.  She climbs over each of their beds to pull them shut.

“Laura?” She searches around the small enclosure, but there’s no sign of the small girl.  She quickly checks the bathroom, but comes up short. She frowns and runs out of their cabin.

“Laura!” But there’s no point. She runs over to each of the counselors bunks to see if she may have taken shelter in any of them but she’s no where to be found.  Carmilla frowns, becoming increasingly more worried.  The camp was only so big and there were only so many places Laura could have taken shelter. The storm is only becoming increasingly stronger, the wind whipping the rain around 

She’s not sure what it is, but Carmilla starts toward the lake. It was a long shot, anybody knowing damn well that was definitely the last hang out place during a storm. She squints against the blinding rain, her feet squishing against the muddy terrain.  She comes up upon the edge of the sand and grass and can barely make out a figure sitting on the dock.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”  Carmilla kicks off her shoes and runs down the sandy shore.  Her feet hit the rough, wet wood as she swiftly tiptoes across the dock.  She looks out at the lake, swirling and waves at crashing up against the shore. She approaches Laura quietly, but Laura’s fully aware of her presence.

“What the hell are you doing out here?  Trying to get yourself killed?”

Laura doesn’t respond even though she hears Carmilla yelling at her. She stares, deadpan across the treacherous lake, unmoving and uncaring about the rain assaulting her face. It almost feels good, a cleansing of sorts, washing away bad memories.

“Laura, it’s not safe here!  You of all people should know.”

But she remains unresponsive.  Carmilla leans down and puts careful hands on her bare shoulders. Her hair is matted down against her face and her clothes are more than soaked through.  She stares at her stoic expression, unable to read a thing that is going through it.  What was it with Laura and natural disasters?

She lowers her voice, almost whispering in her ear. “Laura, we have to go.” Laura turns her head slowly, locking eyes with Carmilla’s worried ones.  Her eyes are puffy from crying, and Carmilla can see where tears streaked down her face amidst the drops of rain.  She’s hesitant to respond, not used to doling out comfort, even though the concern on her own rain soaked face says it all.

“Laura, c’mon.”

She’s reluctant at first as if she’s glued to the wet wood. Carmilla tries to ease her up, which starts to work as she finally gets to her feet.  They stumble around, Carmilla trying to help lead Laura in the right direction, acting as though she’s leading around a blind mouse. The rain violently starts to hit them quite hard, the wind not helping at the slightest.  They go in the direction of the rec building where everyone else huddles, dry beneath the roof.  The ground is wet, slippery, and Laura nearly falls.  Carmilla catches her, holding her up by her arm.

“Ow, ow.”

“What is it?  What’s wrong?”

“My ankle, I think I sprained it on something.”

“Try not to walk on it.  Here.” She swings Laura’s arm around her neck to brace her up.  The trek becomes much more difficult through the monsoon, rain soaked ground, and Carmilla now carrying half of Laura’s weight.  They finally make it up to the building, pulling Laura up the few stairs proving to be more difficult than Carmilla thought.  The stumble up to the porch, now slightly shielded from the downpour.

“You okay?”

Laura nods but it’s not very reassuring.  They enter the building and make their way back to where everyone else awaits. Danny and Perry jump up immediately upon seeing the duo enter, LaF running off to find some towels. Danny helps Carmilla set her down on the ground away from the kids, elevating her sprained ankle.

“Laura, Laura.  Are you okay?” Danny asks.

“Yeah…I’m okay.”  LaF comes back, handing Danny a handful of towels and tossing some to Carmilla who accepts them gratefully.  She doesn’t believe for a second a word Laura is saying, but walks off as so not to crowd. Laura watches her leave, her heart sinking momentarily before chills from the cold rain overwhelm her mind.

“You’re an idiot,” Will mutters.  Carmilla ignores him, trying to ring the water out of her hair and clothes, although it doesn’t really do much.  She wants to strip out of the wet items, but she knows how insanely inappropriate that would be. She curses herself for not just taking her and Laura back to their bunk.

“Mother needs her alive.”

“Don’t try that with me.  She would have been just fine.  What’s a night with some wind and rain?”  She ignores Will again, only this time stealing what glances she can over towards Laura who sits next to Danny with at least three towels around her.  She notices Danny’s comforting hand on the small of her back as she mutters something Carmilla has no way of hearing. Whatever it is, it makes Laura laugh finally, the first time she sees anything remotely close to a smile spread across her face.  Carmilla almost lets out a sigh of relief.

The storm continues to rumble, flashes of lighting illuminating the night sky, followed by a ringing clatter of thunder.  Most of the kids and counselors have fallen asleep or have distracted themselves with one of the random books in the room.  Laura leans slumped up against a bookshelf, only one towel now wrapped around her small frame.  Pure exhaustion courses through her as she tries to focus on steadying her breathing over the raging storm just outside the four walls.

She didn’t know what it was that made her go out there in the first place. For starters, it definitely had _not_ been raining when she had left. Maybe it was the increasingly stuffy room, or the agonizingly long action movie, or the way she had caught Carmilla staring at her and then stomping off in a huff seconds later. While she hadn’t been giving her the nicest of looks, she had had a hunch why Carmilla had been glaring so menacingly at her and Danny and couldn’t help but be secretly pleased by it.

It had to have been Carmilla; there was no denying that she was the reason Laura had gotten up and left the rec room.  Hell, she had even waltzed down to the lake as soon as she had felt fresh air, only because she knew Carmilla liked to hang around down there. She felt stupid for trying to convince herself that there were other reasons. 

But then the wind had picked up and the rain had started and Laura knew all the signs for a storm were taking place.  She knew her way back to the building and she could have easily gotten there had she left as soon as the elements were getting dicey.

But she hadn’t.

Why hadn’t she?  Maybe she longed for the feeling of rainwater against her face as she usually opted for dashing indoors at the slightest droplet.  Maybe it was the pouring back of bad memories from so long ago and the cleansing she felt she maybe needed for closure.

Someone coughs, turning over in their sleep and jolting Laura out of her thoughts. Her eyes pop open and she suddenly becomes alert, not realizing she had been starting to doze off. She glances around the room and mostly everyone has fallen asleep in some capacity and the sight is actually somewhat endearing, with what everyone falling over each other, heads drooped, bodies heaving up and down from their breathing patterns.

Laura thinks best not to worry anymore.  She doesn’t want to think about her past, or could have beens. If she falls asleep now, she doesn’t have to think about any of that, about the fire, or the storm, or Carmilla.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The sun returns to its normal spot in the air the next day, not a cloud in the sky and not a sign that a torrential storm had come crashing through less than 12 hours ago.  The once wet grass has already dried up and any loose twigs, leaves, or branches are nowhere in sight. Carmilla stands with her arms folded across her chest, glaring out at the pristine campgrounds. Her clothes are still damp from the night before and stick to her like glue.  While wet clothes normally irk the average person, she doesn’t seem to mind.

“You’re going to catch a cold or something.”

Laura walks out of the building, her eyes squinting at the contact with the bright sun.  Carmilla doesn’t look at her, but keep staring with a frown.

“I’ll be fine, cutie.  I don’t get sick. I’d be more worried about yourself.”

Laura shrugs and jogs down the steps, a few staff and a stream of campers following her and making their way to their destinations.  She pauses and turns back around, looking up at the dark haired girl on the porch.

“Thanks.” The gratitude is flat, almost insincere. Carmilla knows better though and looks down at Laura.

“You’ve been saying that a lot to me lately.”

“Never thought I would, honestly.”

Carmilla snorts. “That makes two of us.”

Laura waits, but can’t think of anything else to say.  She knows Carmilla isn’t going to say anything so she departs, looking forward to nothing but taking a shower and putting on a fresh set of clothes.  Carmilla yawns and watches her leave, surprised at the decent amount of sleep she had got. She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept so peacefully, maybe it was the sound of her mother’s storm that lulled her to sleep and she had to admit it, she didn’t hate it.

Carmilla knows she should return to her bunk and freshen up for the day. While the wet clothes didn’t bother her so much, she knew she wasn’t about to lead a bunch of kids in a day of activities still soaked to the bone.  She knew for a fact Perry wouldn’t have any of that.

But she really didn’t want to head back to her cabin either, knowing fully well that’s where Laura had just gone.  While she was curious about how some of the more recent events had affected Laura, she was in no mood to find out, or to try and painfully make it through some awkward small talk.  Although, their time in the woods together had proved they were very capable of avoiding the small talk, something she hadn’t been able to give much thought to.

“You’re doing a great job of wooing our little princess over there.” Will must be the last one to emerge from the rec room as he falls in line next to his sister. “Saving her life, in some sorts, _twice_ now? Shouldn’t have any problem taking her to mother. I guess you are the better child.”

“Shut up.”

“Ooh, testy.  Watch it, sis. We all know what happened to the last girl you got attached to.”

Carmilla’s face is stone cold, her voice vicious. “I _don’t_ get attached.”  She pauses. “I do my job and move on.  Plain and simple.”

Will rolls his eyes, his tone mocking. “Yeah, okay sis.  Just don’t try and put up a fight with me when we’re waltzing Goody Two Shoes over there to mommy searest in a few days.”

Will jogs down the stairs and heads to the cafeteria.  Carmilla bites her bottom lip out of pure nervousness, although she’ll never admit that to _anyone_. She really hadn’t thought much about her mother’s task when it came to mulling over her inner thoughts on Laura as a person in general.  Maybe she just forgot about them.  Or maybe if she didn’t think about her mother’s twisted plot, then it just would simply stop existing.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Everyone sits gathered in circles around a couple of small campfires. Marshmallows and melting chocolate get passed around into goopy hands.  Carmilla has to admit that s’mores are definitely one of this time period’s better ideas as she carefully prepares a roasting stick with marshmallows aplenty. She even finds herself asking Laura if she wants her to make her one too.  But she just shakes her head, her expression glum as she stares at the fire. Carmilla frowns, but doesn’t dwell on it for long, only one thing in mind at the moment.

It truly hurts Laura’s heart to have to deny a s’more, but not one bit of her is feeling up for one of the sugary delicacies.  Her eyes are glazed over as they stare fixated on the small campfire.  Her bad memories flash sporadically, now mixed with the cabin blaze from a few nights ago. She hears shouting, crying; she sees her mother. She can feel her father’s arms wrapped around her small fighting body, holding her from running into a burning building. She can feel the tears from years ago and she can feel them building once again.

Laura stands up abruptly, getting the attention of mostly everyone, except Carmilla who keeps her eyes glued to her roasting marshmallow.

“What’s up?” Danny asks.  Laura raises her head to the sky so the tears stay back for the moment. She doesn’t want anyone to see her; she doesn’t want their pity.

“I’ll be right back.”

“You want me to go with you?”

Laura can only shake her head quickly before she turns away from them, the tears streaking down her face uncontrollably now.  She prays nobody notices.

She’s wrong though.

Although Carmilla had been consumed with perfecting the integral part of her s’more, she knew Laura was upset.  She knew she was fighting back tears and she knew the exact moment when she let them go. She waits until Danny goes back to her conversation with LaF before turning her head slightly to watch Laura disappear down by the lake.  She frowns, feeling obligation even though she’s not sure where from.

“Here.”

She hands off her stick and her perfect marshmallow to Kirsch who takes it, unsure of what to do with it.  It pains her slightly to have to give it away, specifically to that big doof.

Carmilla jogs down the slight incline towards the lake and immediately spots Laura’s silhouette. She pauses at first, almost ready to turn back around and take her s’more back from Kirsch, but she’s come this far, hasn’t she? Plus, she has a feeling that Laura knows she’s there, so she ends up taking hesitant steps toward her. Laura doesn’t turn around.

“If you’re thinking about jumping in, I don’t think I’ll be able to save your life again. Three times seems a little excessive,” she jokes, trying to lighten to thick air.

Laura stares out across the lake, a nearly full moon hanging high in the air, giving out the only source of light, other than the campfires. Carmilla waits for her to say something but when she doesn’t, she takes a few steps closer to her, her feet landing on the creaky wood. 

She’s going to regret this, she’s sure of it. “What’s wrong?”

Laura can hear the genuine concern in her bunkmate’s voice and smiles, but only to herself.  God forbid if Carmilla would have seen it, she never would have let her live it down. She crosses her arms, shielding off only the cold she can feel in her mind.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re also a terrible liar.”  Laura closes her eyes, knowing she’s not going to get out of this one. Carmilla waits for a response, but is afraid she’s not going to get one.  “You wanna talk about it?”

Carmilla steps forward and bends down to sit at the edge of the dock with Laura. She glances sideways at her, and for the first time since meeting the always peppy, always positive girl, sees hints of distress and absolute anguish.  She notices her puffy eyes once again, but she isn’t crying at the moment. She goes to put a comforting hand on her back, but hesitates, confused at the sudden instinctive empathy she shows.  Laura snorts, quietly.

“You know, comfort isn’t a bad thing.” 

Carmilla withdraws her hand at lightning speed, awkwardly nursing it behind her own back now, causing Laura to laugh just a little bit more.

“Sorry, I don’t do the whole shoulder to cry on role well.” Carmilla looks around, anywhere but Laura. Laura lets out a laugh before silence overtakes the two, something they’re both quite familiar with when in each other’s presence.  It’s comfortable, as if they’ve known each other all their life.  Laura couldn’t believe how much Carmilla had already made her smile in the past few minutes even with her current mood. Finally, she speaks up, breaking the quiet.

“My mom passed away when I was pretty young.  I can’t remember a lot of it, just a storm, and some lightning hit the house, and she wasn’t able to get out.”

Carmilla looks at Laura with concern, not able to believe the bombshell she just dropped on a girl that was practically a stranger, that she didn’t have much of a taste for until just a few days earlier.

“I just remember a lot of screaming and my dad holding me back. I can’t say I wouldn’t have ran right back into that burning building had he not been there.” There’s a pause. Laura lets out a heavy breath. “Might not even be here if it wasn’t for him.”

“Laura, I’m, I’m so sorry.”  It’s heavy stuff that Laura’s dropping on her right now, but Carmilla feels it her responsibility to listen.

She shrugs. “I hardly remember her.”

But her expression says differently, and Carmilla knows it. Having been around for quite a while, she was pretty good at reading more than just what was on the surface. She wants to give her a hug, or some sort of comfort, but can’t physically bring herself to do so. Confusion rakes through her mind, through her body as she wrestles with feelings she’s never experienced before.

Laura remains quiet as Carmilla starts to study every inch of Laura’s face, her negative disposition forming faint age lines on her otherwise young face. Laura can feel Carmilla’s eyes scanning her every slightest move as she slowly looks up, absorbing every inch on the way to her dark eyes.  Laura’s breath hitches in her throat as she locks eyes with Carmilla’s, her regularly steady breathing pattern altering quite drastically and the thoughts she had about her deceased mother floating away with the small waves of the lake. She looks down at her nose, her defined cheekbones, down that sharp, sharp jaw line to her lips. It’s dark, but she knows the sexual tension is high in the air.  It’s intoxicating, as she draws a deep breath in.  She hates herself for so easily being able to push her memories away, but she can’t help it. The space between the two feels like it’s becoming smaller and smaller, but maybe it’s just all in their heads.

Suddenly, a voice rings through the air, interrupting and killing the moment, “Hey Laura!  Laura!”

She still stares at Carmilla, not wanting to let go of her or her gaze quite yet.  She finally does, Carmilla looking away, sheepishly.  Laura notices it, noting the complete out of character move.  She smiles to herself before looking up at the source of the noise.

Danny’s tall frame stands illuminated by the distant campfire.

“What’s up, Danny?”

“Marshmallows are almost gone.  I know how much you like them.”

Laura smiles at the sentiment.  “Thanks, I’ll be right there.”  Danny nods, but doesn’t move, waiting for her.  Laura knows her alone time and the moment, if it had even been a moment, with Carmilla is over.  She looks back at the dark haired girl, whose face is immediately hardened and cold again.

“I guess I should…I should go.”  She stands and picks up her sandals from the dock, leaving Carmilla sitting alone now. Carmilla stares at a random spot on the lake, feeling the after effects of what just happened and just how much she really hated Danny in that moment.

“Laura,” she turns around.  Laura pauses to face Carmilla, a glimmer of hope that maybe she’ll stop her or, well, she’s not really sure.  The faint light from the campfire illuminates her face.

“Hmm?”

“I’m sorry about your mom,” she says, her eyes brimming with sympathy. Laura gives her a small, apologetic smile, the glimmer of hope disappearing just as fast as it came.

“Yeah, me too.” 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Carmilla stares up at the ceiling, one arm folded under her head, the other playing with a loose string on her bed sheet.  The night’s noise from the campers has started to die down and she figures Laura will either be back soon or maybe even spend a night with the ginger giantess.  A sharp pain hits her like an avalanche of rocks at the thought.  She can’t believe the things she’s feeling and how she’s reacting to silly things like Laura spending time with someone else.  Her and Danny weren’t a couple, right?  They’re more just like friends with benefits, or without the benefits, she isn’t sure.

 _But Laura deserves better than just random hookups_ , Carmilla thinks to herself.

“Ugh, what am I even saying?”

She didn’t even like Laura as a human being, right?

Things had definitely changed since the night of the storm, hell even the hike and fire in all honesty.  Carmilla hadn’t meant to act all heroic or anything, she had just been doing her job, the job she was sent to camp to do.  She didn’t think her mother would take too kindly if Laura was floating dead in the lake or by some falling tree branch.

Okay, so Laura had grown on her, something she had not been expecting by any means.  Carmilla didn’t do feelings, she didn’t do jealousy and she surely did _not_ do falling in love; it just was not her aesthetic. But this wasn’t love, just a crush, and a minor infatuation maybe.  Not love. Not yet.

And yet, as she lies on her lumpy twin mattress staring up at a dark ceiling, she can’t help but wonder that _maybe there’s a first for everything_.

And then there was the thing with Laura’s mom and how affected she was by it, even if she tried to cover it up.  She couldn’t shake the look Laura had on her face; it had been nothing but pure vulnerability. Carmilla can’t help but smile though, thinking about how bad Laura was at trying to act all disaffected. She made a mental note to give her some lessons later.

Carmilla doesn’t even think about the task her mother had for her and Will, the reason why she was even there in the first place.  That was the last thing on her mind as she stupidly pined for Laura like a lovesick teenager.  She felt stupid.

Carmilla can’t shake the image of the petite girl out of her head. She has her entire body memorized by now, with all the trips to the lake, the heat induced lack of clothing, and times she walks out of the shower with hardly anything on thinking Carmilla’s asleep.  She lets out a soft moan from both frustration and a stirring she feels at the very pit of her stomach.

“Fuck,” she mumbles, cursing herself for starting to get turned on by something, someone so stupid and meaningless.

But Laura’s not stupid or meaningless.  In fact, she’s far from it.

Her thoughts slowly wander to what Laura would be like in bed, under the sheets driving her absolutely wild.  She knows Laura puts on a cutesy and innocent front for everyone, but behind all that she has got to have some way to let her inhibitions loose. Carmilla had had her fair share of sexual escapades through the hundreds of years, but she had never been close to having the thoughts and feelings she currently holds for Laura.

The thoughts drive her nuts as her free hand starts to make a move toward the waistline of her pants.  She dips it below slowly just grazing what she knows will soon be a throbbing center. She shifts only a bit, moving her head around as her hand makes contact.  While she desperately wishes it were a certain someone else skillfully running her hand across her clit, she knows she must make do with what she’s given

Carmilla slowly withdraws her hand; but it’s only for a moment so she can kick off the shorts she’s wearing, leaving her in a pair of black boy briefs. The humid air from the previous night’s rain only adds to the heat she feels with the sinful thoughts she has of Laura going down on her.  She’s only just about to plunge back in before the sound of their screen door slowly opening permits her to stop.  She’s smooth to cover up any sign of debauchery, propping herself up on an elbow.

“Hey,” she says softly, almost groggy as if she just woke up from a nap or long sleep.  Carmilla can only hope Laura has stopped by to take a shower, freshen up, or maybe just pack some overnight clothes as so to avoid the horrendous walk of shame.

Laura hardly looks at her.  She doesn’t turn the light on.  “Hey.” Her voice is quieter than Carmilla’s greeting.

Carmilla lets out a low, soft whistle, the presence of actual Laura with her short shorts and bare shoulders not helping anything that’s going down between her legs.  She could say something snarky but due to their previous conversation and Laura’s disposition down at the lake, she decides against it.

“So you heading over to – ”

Carmilla can barely finish her sentence before everything she had previously been thinking, been dreaming about really starts to come true. She’s not entirely sure how fast it took Laura to whip around and lean down to kiss her rather sloppily, but fiercely on the lips, but honestly, she really doesn’t mind.

 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

As soon as she had left Carmilla on the dock, the only thing Laura had wanted to do was go back.  Go back and tell her everything she had been feeling, everything that had been building up ever since she had locked eyes with her ever so briefly the first day of orientation.

Danny had asked if she wanted to come around her cabin later that night, but Laura had politely declined.  Again.

And now here she was, slowly but surely making her way back to her own cabin where she knows a typical disheartened Carmilla will be, either sleeping, pretend sleeping, or reading.

She can see the light is off from a distance and figures she’s probably sleeping.  Or maybe even be gone. There had been a number of times Laura would wake up in the middle of the night for water or a bathroom break and Carmilla wouldn’t be there, not that she typically minded. However, this particular night, she almost finds herself praying that Carmilla’s in.

It hadn’t been until the whole unexpected fire combined with the out of season storm that really did it for Laura.  Carmilla had acted so stupidly heroic and she couldn’t think of any reason other than that maybe she _actually cared_ about her, something that made her heart absolutely soar.  Sure, Carmilla was normally an increasingly negative person with the personality of a snail, but maybe it was all simply a façade.  If anything it intrigued Laura more, making her wonder what she was like when she wasn’t so testy all the time.  Of course she had seen glimpses of a caring Carmilla and she longed to see more.

It didn’t help Laura hadn’t been having exactly PG thoughts about her bunkmate as of late.  With the heat and her very, very _dry_ sex life at the moment, she was really willing to take anything she could, even though she constantly turned Danny down.  That may have been a completely different issue, but not one that Laura wanted to delve very far into.  Carmilla was sexy as hell there was no denying that.  She recalled back to the day when LaF had been going through Carmilla’s redeeming qualities, her looks being one of them.  She remembered the half-hearted, “Yeah, maybe” she had given them, but also remembered the, “Tell me something I don’t know, I’d take her right on that table if her personality didn’t suck so bad” she had to try very hard to repress.

Laura draws closer and closer to the cabin, wrestling with the inner debate currently driving her wild.  She’s almost positive Carmilla has reciprocated feelings for her, even if they’re just to get in bed with her.  She hesitates outside their shared cabin before going in, debating whether or not she should make a move on her.  If she does, it must be quick and as soon as she enters; no room for talk, she has to have her. Or what if they should talk first? Talking is always good, Laura knows she always does too much of it.

She groans in frustration, unable to make up her mind. Maybe she’ll know when she walks in.

Laura pushes the creaky door open slowly.  The cabin is still dark, aside from a small gleam from the moonlight she leaves behind her.  She spots Carmilla lying on her bed, hardly moving.  She closes the door behind her.

“Hey,” Carmilla says softly, almost groggy as if Laura just woke her up from a nap or deep sleep.  Laura doesn’t say much, quickly devouring Carmilla’s current physical appearance. She’s laid spread out on her bed in a pair of black boy shorts and a black t-shirt, hiked up a bit to show off her flat stomach.  Her hair is kind of messy and her dark eyes, from what she can see from the dark, are glazed over.

 _Oh God_.

Laura knows she’s in too deep.  Carmilla’s current messy state doesn’t help either as Laura has a hunch what she may have been doing right before she walked in.  The thought doesn’t help by any means making Laura want her more than anything as she turns her back on her, taking a large breath of the humid air.  She drops her bag on the floor, knowing if she’s going to make a move tonight, it has to be now.

“So you heading over to –” Laura knows she’s going to ask about Danny and that’s the last person she wants to be thinking about right now. She takes it as her cue and in one quick movement, she spins around, quickly targets Carmilla’s lips and connects them with her own rather fiercely. 

Carmilla’s eyes close immediately as she lies back, taking Laura with her, lips still connected.  Laura kicks off her flip-flops and crawls on top of her, resting her small body flush with Carmilla’s.  She traces her bottom lip with her tongue, practically begging for permission. Carmilla isn’t one to deny it either as her own lips part, her tongue clashing with Laura’s.

Carmilla rakes her hands up and down Laura’s upper torso, finally taking advantage of what she’d only been dreaming about doing for the past few weeks. She finally finds the hem of her tank top and tugs at it, needing it off immediately.  Their lips disconnect for only a moment for Laura to pull the tank up and over her head.  In that moment, the two look at each other square in the eyes and smile. Laura laughs, which in turn only makes Carmilla’s grin grow wider as she pulls her head back down to meet her own.

Carmilla can only think that she has to be dreaming.  It had only been moments before that she had been complaining about having to get herself off again, but here the object of her recent affections was, furiously making out on top of her and trying to get her own black shirt over her head.

After successfully tossing Carmilla’s shirt somewhere into the dark space, Laura, satisfied with her progress and confidence, leads a trail of soft kisses from Carmilla’s jawline, down her neck, between the valley of her breasts, and slowly down her stomach, moving up and down with her rugged breathing pattern.  She makes it down to the waistline of her boy shorts, slowly starting to slide them down her smooth and slender legs.

Carmilla’s breath hitches in her throat, causing her to throw her head back ever so slightly at the feeling of Laura’s hot breath against her center. She quivers in anticipation as she leaves soft kisses on her inner thighs, purposefully missing the spot she so desperately craves 

“Mmm, Laura…” she mumbles, eyes closed.  Hearing Carmilla say her actual name and not the typical cupcake or sweetheart makes Laura’s heart soar, knowing she’s at least more than one of Carmilla’s many hookups Laura was sure she has had. Her tongue finally grazes over her clit before starting on her inner walls.  Carmilla tosses only slightly as she’s trained with the utmost self-control. Her hands do, however, grip the bed sheets tight, bunching them in her fists.

Any ideas of Laura being the prim and innocent little girl are long gone from Carmilla’s brain, as she can’t believe the skill the seemingly perfectly pure child possesses.  She subconsciously bucks her hips up to meet the rhythm she desperately craves. Laura complies as she picks up her pace, knowing her partner is about to burst.

“Oh God, fuck.”  Carmilla knows her end is near and she can’t believe how fast it took Laura and she had hardly really done anything.  In the past, she had typically been the one to give and would hardly come close if she was on the receiving end.  What the hell was it about this particular provincial Laura Hollis that made her go absolutely wild? She closes her eyes, determined to last just a bit longer, not wanting to give Laura the pleasure of being able to get her off in a matter of minutes.

“Mmm.” She lets out a breathy moan as Laura rakes her tongue up against her clit once more.  Carmilla knows it’s over and has no choice but to let go.

“Fuck.” She can feel her heart practically beating out of her heavy breathing chest, the throbbing between her legs only slowly starting to dissipate.  Her eyes slowly open as she watches Laura sit up and wipe her bottom lip with her thumb. Their eyes lock in the darkness, the moonlight from the night illuminating one side of Laura’s face. Heavy breathing is all that can be heard. For once in her life, Carmilla is speechless and unmoving.

There’s a grin playing at Laura’s lips, but she too is at a loss for words, partly due to the discomfort she’s now feeling between her own legs.

“I hate to kill the moment but…” She trails off, but Carmilla knows exactly what she’s asking for.  She grins, sitting up and gently kissing Laura.  It’s soft, tender as Laura smiles against her swollen lips, placing her hand behind her head to pull her closer.  Carmilla swiftly flips them around with ease, gently laying Laura down on the bed and climbing on top of her.  She’s not one to break the kiss, as she snakes her hand between them and down Laura’s shorts to feel her.  She moans against her lips, pouting at the loss of contact when she starts to go south.

Carmilla has Laura’s shorts and underwear off in a flash, finding them rather irritating and wondering why the hell they were even still on in the first place. She leans down to kiss right under her navel, leading a line of light kisses down to the place begging for them the most. Laura moans, much louder than Carmilla who is quite taken aback by the sounds she’s making, and feeling crazily turned on that she’s the one doing it.  She replaces her mouth with her fingers, quickly shutting Laura up with a messy kiss.

“Shh, if you haven’t figured out by now, this place doesn’t perform well in privacy,” Carmilla scolds softly, smiling and not really all that upset. Laura half giggles, half moans as Carmilla continues her ministrations against her clit. “Unless you want the whole camp to hear us, in that case, it might be kind of hot.”

The thought actually turns Carmilla on to no end as she deftly dances her fingers against Laura, feeling her hot and completely soaked inner walls. Laura moves under her, eyes closed and bucking her hips forward ever so slightly, hoping she might take a hint. But Carmilla’s briefly distracted, staring down at Laura and just how perfect the moon radiates down on her face. Her hair is messy, strewn about across Carmilla’s bed and pillow.  Her face is peaceful, but begs for movement behind her closed eyes. She pauses what she’s doing, but only for a moment to really study the girl she has in her bed.

This is it.  She’s in too deep. She knows after this, whatever this is, that it can’t go back to the way it was before.  Sure, her sexual cravings might be satisfied for the time being, but just by the way Laura looks in that moment, there’s no way she can go back to pretending to be so disinterested in her.

“Carm…” Laura reopens her eyes to find Carmilla staring down at her intently. For a split second, she forgets Carmilla’s hand playing with her, forgets her state of ecstasy only just to stare back into the dark, lust filled eyes staring down at her. She searches them for something, anything but is only met with soft eyes.

“Carm?” she repeats, wondering if she’s broken after she doesn’t move for a bit. Carmilla shakes her head, not able to explain where she had momentarily just gone in her head. Never had she experienced anything like it.

“What?” She examines their current state. “Oh my God, I’m sorry.” Laura laughs but it soon turns into a moan as Carmilla has reattached her mouth to Laura’s lower region, determined to not let the girl that’s been driving her wild for the past few weeks forget this night.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

For the first time in her life, Carmilla has never slept so soundly. The rhythm of Laura’s breathing as she dozes feels comfortable, feels right against her body. It lulls her into a comfortable sleep that she doesn’t feel tired from when her eyes flutter open around three in the morning. She shifts around, taking in her surroundings and remembering what had happened hours earlier. She looks down at the sheets and blanket lazily tossed over them even though the heat in the air might not call for covers.  Her eyes trail up to Laura’s sleeping form, her head tucked down into Carmilla.

She smiles and relaxes back down, her eyes now staring up at the ceiling. She feels like an idiot with her stupid grin and the soaring feeling she has in her gut, like a giddy school girl who can’t wait to show off her new backpack and shoes to her fellow classmates. The thought just makes her smile wider and close her eyes, shaking her head for feeling so infantile.

She can’t help but look back down at Laura.  This had been more than just a hookup.  Sure, it had felt incredible to finally be able to release all her sexual frustrations and fantasies out, but just by looking, gazing down at the object of her affections, she knows it has become much more than just that.  There’d be no way she’d be able to turn the other way or just avoid her altogether like she had with some of her other hookups in the past.  When it came down to it, she wanted more than anything for Laura to wake up right now so she could tell her just how smitten she had become with her.

The thought isn’t impossible as she considers rustling her awake. She finally decides against it, knowing how irritated she would be if anyone had tried to wake her out of what looked to be a peaceful sleep.  She decides she probably wouldn’t mind though if Laura woke her up. Carmilla wonders what Laura’s dreaming about and secretly hopes it’s her.

She closes her eyes in annoyance with herself as soon as she even thinks it. She realizes there’s absolutely no use in scolding herself anymore for feeling this way, it wasn’t about to change any time soon.

She tries to get her mind to wander away from Laura as difficult as it may be. Her heart sinks tenfold, however, when it stumbles upon her real reason for laying in this stupid bunk and her hellish mother.  She keeps telling herself that she doesn’t know her mother’s plans and maybe they don’t involve Laura’s demise, but no matter how many times she repeats it in her head she’s not any closer to believing it.  She knows that her mother’s quests always end up with the target dead or seriously maimed.  She doesn’t want to think of the number of murders her and Will have been accomplices to. It makes her sick.

There’s a slight rustling as Laura shifts around under the covers. It jogs Carmilla out of her thoughts, something she’s grateful for.  She breathes in sharply and doesn’t move, not wanting to disrupt Laura if she doesn’t have any intentions of waking up.

“Mmm.” She must be thinking about something nice and Carmilla can feel her heart soar.

Laura rolls around as she can feel herself coming out of what was once a deep slumber.  She’s becoming more aware of where she is and whom she’s currently laying in bed with, even though her eyes are still closed.  Memories from the previous night, well, only hours ago really, come flooding back like water escaping from a broken levy.  Her thoughts aren’t quite as coherent as she would have liked, only clearly remembering the feeling she had when she finally found the guts to kiss Carmilla.

It had been nice.  Great, really, along with everything else that had happened after that.

She yawns and snuggles deeper into the mattress and Carmilla’s side. She feels Carmilla shift just a bit and realizes she’s awake, noticing the difference in her breathing pattern. She debates for a moment whether or not to pretend to be asleep, but can’t think of any good reason why she would want to do that so she lets her eyes flutter open.  She blinks, trying to focus her eyes, but it’s all still pretty dark aside from the moonlight peeking its way in.  She turns her head to find Carmilla’s.

“Hey.” Her voice is soft and raspy, but it gets Carmilla’s attention. She glances down, an instant smile appearing wide on her face.  It’s infectious.

“Hi.” Laura has never heard her voice sound so small and meek as it’s usually laced with sarcasm paired with a cynical attitude for the ages.  It almost makes Laura feel quite proud of herself, figuring she’s the reason for the sudden change. She stares up at her, her eyes soft. Her gaze trails down to her lips and she suddenly has the biggest urge to kiss her again.

So she does.  Because why not?

It almost takes Carmilla by surprise, but there’s no hesitation on her part as she’s unsure how her smile can get any bigger.  Laura’s the first to pull away, but it’s slow.

“What was that for?  And please, tell me exactly what it was that made that happen, I’ll gladly oblige,” Carmilla says softly, wisps of hair hanging in front of her face as she continues to smile down at Laura with pure adoration.  She knows she sounds like a lovesick puppy and she definitely feels desperate as hell.

“What is this I hear?  Is Carmilla Karnstein, the always brooding teenager, begging?”

She rolls her eyes. “I would hardly call it begging.” There’s a silence, but again, it’s comfortable.  Outside, the crickets chirp in a soft rhythm, their song seeping in through the open windows. Laura breaks the silence.

“Bed head is a good look on you,” she says.  She can see the softness to Carmilla’s usual hard demeanor and she can’t think of anything else she’d rather be gazing at. A new kind of warmth surges through her and she must say she’s never felt quite like this with anyone else before. Sure, she had dated people on and off in the past, having an almost serious relationship a few years back. But this was something entirely new, entirely separate from whatever that had been.

“Three o’clock in the morning is usually when I like to woo my ladies,” Carmilla jokes, her smile never fading.  Her right hand starts to gently caress Laura’s hair, almost acting like a hand comb detangling any of the snarls from it.  Laura doesn’t say anything but studies Carmilla’s features, slightly illuminated by the moonlight.  They’re just as she knows them, but something feels different.

Laura tilts her head back down, snuggling up once again closer to Carmilla. She stares into the dark space until she speaks up.

“I like you.”  It’s simple, but she needs to hear it said out loud.  She holds her breath, waiting for Carmilla’s response.

It’s everything Carmilla had been waiting to hear.  She had had a hunch that Laura possibly had reciprocated feelings for her, but she couldn’t be entirely sure.  She surely had not wanted to be the first one to say anything, as there was no way she was going to feel like any more of a fool than she already did.

She kisses the top of Laura’s head and mumbles against it, “I like you too.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AYO. Two months later and here I am. I did not lie when I said I wasn't planning on abandoning this. I've got a million things on my plate right now, but I am pushing through finishing this, especially with all the kudos and nice comments that come trickling in as the days go by, taunting me from my Inbox.
> 
> Hope it lives up to expectations.

They share secret kisses, like two teens hiding from their parents, not because they’re embarrassed by one another, but because they don’t know what to call themselves. Carmilla has never been one to do relationships, to do that sort of commitment thing, plus this was all so temporary, and with what her mother wanted her to do, she already curses herself for allowing herself to become all attached to her. But she forgets about the semantics of it all when she accidentally catches Laura staring at her from across the lake, or down the table at lunch.  To everyone else, nothing seems out of the ordinary; the two don’t act any different around each other than when before they slept together. If anything, Carmilla doesn’t feel the need to antagonize her little friend anymore, wondering if that was all just a mechanism to get her attention.

Laura, for one, had also never felt so strongly about someone she had hardly just met, and she can’t place her finger on what exactly it could be.  She enjoys the alone time she gets to spend with her, mainly at night, and feels a flutter in her stomach when their eyes happen to meet during the day.  She finds herself more times than not trying hard to suppress a smile, holding back the red that creeps at her cheeks.  She knows Carmilla has to do the same; she’s seen her turn away with a crooked grin more times than she can count.  She feels a certain rush knowing she’s the one making the always-broody girl feel that way. She does her best to stop seeing Danny, often times avoiding her or just ignoring her.  It’s not like her to do something so rude, but it seems to be doing the trick, as the tall red head doesn’t hang out as often.

The moon sits high in the air this particular evening, and the two girls sit next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, their legs dangling off the edge of the dock. Carmilla’s hands grip the sides of the wood on either side of her thighs, Laura’s staying neatly folded in her lap. Laura laughs at something Carmilla says under her breath.  Carmilla decides she likes the feeling she gets when she makes Laura laugh like that.

“I don’t know, you’re pretty good with the kids.  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were definitely here by choice,” Laura teases. Carmilla grimaces.

“Let’s just say summer isn’t my favorite season.”

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those awful people who actually enjoys the cold winter?”

Carmilla glances at her.  “What’s wrong with winter?”

Laura shrugs. “It’s cold.  Wet. Damp.  Dreary.  Feels like life has stopped existing.”

Carmilla frowns and shakes her head.  “You’re just looking at it all wrong.  There’s nothing like the feeling of waking up and your feet hitting the cold floor but you look outside to see a powder of freshly fallen snow dusting your window sill and everything else around it.”  Her voice is soft, poetic. Laura’s expression softens as she gazes at her and absorbs her words.

“You’re standing at your window, a blanket draped around your hunched shoulders, a cup of hot cider clutched in your hand.  You light a crisp fire as it warms the once chilly room and watch the flames dance to keep you warm.  More snow gently tumbles from the sky outside; erasing the day’s activities and marks humanity has left on it.  Maybe you’re curled up with a book, engrossed in the words spilling off the page.  It’s dark and almost time for bed as you snuggle deep into your flannel sheets, letting the soft sound of wind gently lull you to sleep.”

She’s silent as she finishes with the word, “sleep.”  Laura continues to stare, her eyes deep with admiration and her heart a puddle. The moonlight hits Carmilla’s face just as poetically as her words.  She has the sudden urge to kiss her

Carmilla turns to Laura at the silence and gives her a soft smile. “I like winter.” Laura tries to find a response, but finds she’s coming up empty.  Soon she’s leaning in towards Carmilla and she watches as her eyes flutter shut. She studies her face up close, memorizing the gentle frown lines and sharpness to her cheekbones. She can feel her short breath waiting in anticipation against her own slightly quivering lips as her eyes travel the map of her face.  They finally land on Carmilla’s lips and she can’t help herself anymore.

It’s gentle, poignant almost as Laura’s lips softly graze Carmilla’s.  Laura immediately smiles, which in turn makes Carmilla giggle, yes, _giggle_ , slightly.

“Stop, I’m trying to kiss you,” Laura mumbles against her lips.  Carmilla pulls back slightly and looks at Laura.

“Quit getting all smiley on me then,” she teases back, wasting no time in leaning back into her and recapturing her lips with her own.  This time it’s deeper with more feeling behind it.  Carmilla wonders if she keeps kissing Laura like this she’ll be able to forget about all her problems.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“It’s cute.” Will hits a tree trunk with a stick.

Carmilla ignores her brother’s remark and instead stares at the poor piece of nature at the end of Will’s wrath. “What did that tree ever do to you?”

“Tomorrow’s the big night.”  He hits the tree again pieces of bark flying everywhere. “You ready?  From all the buttering up you’ve been doing to little Laura, I bet she’s in prime condition.”

“Shut up.” It’s snappy and she knows it. She feels everything shut down inside of her at the slightest mention of this and she wants to find her own stick to hurl at a tree.  She picks at a nail, trying to act disinterested.

“This is adorable, sis, it really is.  Don’t think we’ve ever had a falling in love problem, have we?”

“I’m not…I’m not in love with her.  I barely know her.” It’s hard to say though, and she wonders if she even believes it herself.

Will finally ceases his actions and turns on his sister. “You may not be in love with her, but you care about her.  I’m not an idiot. You and mom might think I am, but believe me I’m not.  I see the way you look at her, even though you’re trying not to be obvious about it. And it’s not just lust in your eyes either. Tell me I’m lying and I won’t say another word about it.”

He stares at her. It’s a hard stare, full of him wanting nothing but to break her.  Her face is unmoving, not amused as she studies his eyes.  She doesn’t have to say anything; she knows he can read her like a magazine.  The sly grin that forms on his face says it all.

“Don’t worry about it sis.  If you can’t do it, I will. That’s what siblings are for, right?” His grin is wicked as he goes back to assailing the tree with his stick.  Carmilla watches with a forlorn expression as it splits it half violently upon impact.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The “L” word had never really permeated her thoughts.  Carmilla wasn’t even sure if she’d ever been in love before. She recounts back to her former affairs and quickly knocks them down notches, refusing to consider them anything close to what she considers Laura.  She turns over onto her side and watches as the moonlight hits Laura’s empty and neatly made bed 

She wonders where she is and wishes she were curled up next to her.

That wasn’t love, right?  Just a cure for loneliness.

Her mind quickly finds the thoughts she’s been trying to bury for the past few days. Her mother’s daunting voice rings through her ears, demanding she have her prize no matter what the cost. Laura wasn’t some prize to be won. She had to be earned.

“Oh my God.” She silently screams into her pillow. She can’t even believe she let herself think that.  Since when did she become the biggest sap on the planet?

A number of different scenarios of just how tomorrow night could possibly play out run through her mind next.  She imagines Will coming in the dead of night to try and lure her away, imagines Will tricking Laura sometime when Carmilla’s not looking and then it would be all over. But she also hates herself for not being able to imagine herself playing the heroic rescue card. When it came down to it, did she even possess the guts to stand up to her incredibly hostile and dangerous mother?

She shrinks further into her bed knowing the answer.

She hears the screen door of their bunk creak open and somewhat silently close. Laura’s feet tiptoe against the rickety floor.  Carmilla can feel her pause, debating whether or not she’s actually sleeping. She has a feeling that Laura knows she’s not, although her back is turned defiantly away from her. A few more seconds pass before she moves on and shuts herself in the bathroom.

Carmilla lets out the breath she was holding in when she hears the shower turn on. Her budding anxiety slowly steadies, but only momentarily as her thoughts can only be consumed by that of Laura and her goddamn mother.  She waits for Laura to emerge from the bathroom, and silently hopes that she’ll clamber into her own bed tonight.

As much as she longs to feel her body wrapped up in her own, she knows that it’s really the last thing she needs.

But Carmilla can’t help but feel a warmth surge through her as soon as she feels Laura pull up the covers and cuddle in against her back.  Her arm slides around her stomach and her chin nuzzles into her neck, and almost immediately the thoughts of her mother vanish.

“I know you’re awake,” she mumbles into her neck.  Carmilla shifts around so she’s lying on her back.  Laura shifts to accommodate and smiles at her as soon as they make eye contact. She gives her a quick peck on the lips.

“What’s wrong?”

Carmilla frowns. “Wrong?  Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”

“You were acting a little off earlier today.  You practically avoided me at dinner tonight.”  Laura’s voice isn’t accusatory, but instead soft and concerned.

Carmilla kisses her on the head. “I’m fine, really.  But your concern is endearing, buttercup.”  There’s a soft silence, the crickets chirping in the night the only noise that permeates the humid air.  Carmilla likes the sound of the night bugs, it lulling her to sleep against Laura’s steady breathing.  She finds her eyes fluttering shut right before Laura’s voice interrupts the night sounds.

“Carm?”

Her eyes are still closed. “Hm?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What are you afraid of?”

The question really throws her off guard.  Her eyelids open and she glances around, unsure if her mother has hidden a camera somewhere or something.  She frowns and contemplates what her answer should be.

“What am I afraid of?” Laura nods.  Carmilla stares into the darkness, millions of thoughts coursing through her mind, memories flashing through as if on display on an old slide projector. The last one is an image of Laura. She sighs.

“Uncertainty.”

Laura snorts. “That’s very philosophical of you.  I shouldn’t have expected anything less.”

“What were you expecting me to say?  Spiders?”

“No, like romantic comedies or Tom Hanks.”

“Laura, please. I’m not a monster.”

And it hits her all at once that Laura has no idea she’s an actual vampire; an actual, supernatural, not human being, for lack of a better word, _monster_.

Of course she doesn’t consider herself to be one, but human nature’s first instinct isn’t always so welcoming.  Everything with Laura had always just felt so normal, that mentioning her species seemed offhand and irrelevant.  She even forgot for a moment that she was a centuries old creature of the night.

Because even more crippling anxiety was exactly what Carmilla needed now.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Carmilla wakes up before Laura does and is able to detangle herself from the small young woman without disturbing her.  She tiptoes out of the cabin, throwing on her red flannel as her feet make contact with the early morning dew.  The air is humid, but it’s crisp and she instantly feels her mind clear of the muck and millions of thoughts constantly racing through. 

The vampire realization had kind of taken her off guard and made her completely forget about what day this was.  She steals a glance at the ever-threatening woods and shudders.  She storms down to the edge of the lake shore, her bare feet hitting the cool sand, the soft waves gently washing up.

She thinks this is punishment for all the terrible things she’s done in her centuries of living.  What else could it possibly be?  She finally finds happiness in something and all of a sudden it’s ripped underneath her. How cruel.

She looks toward their cabin, the sun hardly peeking out.  She’s worried that when she goes back Laura won’t be there. She knows it’s silly to worry now, she has the rest of the day to figure out what she’s going to do, if she even has the balls to put a plan of action through.  Carmilla hates to think about the wrath she’ll surely face from her mother if she even tries to disobey or get in her way, and she shudders just thinking about what sorry punishment she might face.

Carmilla can hardly get through breakfast about an hour later.  She pokes at her food, completely disinterested in the cafeteria’s output.  She can feel Laura’s eyes studying her, full of concern and curiosity but she refuses to meet them. She glances around the cafeteria for her brother, but he’s nowhere to be seen.  She peeks in Laura’s direction once more to see she’s taken up a conversation with LaFontaine.

Carmilla knows she can’t let her out of her sight, but seeing her isn’t doing much good either. Knowing her vile mother, playing babysitter for the day isn’t going to stop her by any means.

Laura turns from her conversation only so briefly and her eyes lock with Carmilla. She offers a gentle smile, only to have something so very half hearted be returned.  She frowns, knowing something is not right. She watches as Carmilla hastily gets up with her tray and storms out of the cafeteria.

“What’s her beef?” LaF asks, gesturing to Carmilla’s now empty seat.  Laura shrugs. 

“I don’t know.”

“She doesn’t seem to be the one to disclose her feelings.  At least not without some coaxing.  You sure there’s nothing going on between you two?  God knows there’s enough staring to last a lifetime and a half.”

Laura can hardly even hear what LaF’s saying as her words start to mush together. She turns back to her tray and moves to leave.

“Where ya going, L? Activities don’t start until 10 today.”

“I’ll be back…” she replies off handedly, clearly distracted from what her friend is asking.

“Just don’t be late. My bunk is going to school yours in kickball…”

Laura doesn’t hear much of anything else she’s saying.  She throws her trash away, stacking her tray neatly on top of the others before heading outside into the open air.  She searches the campgrounds quickly for any sign of her friend, but comes up short. A pang hits her chest, and she’s unsure where it’s coming from.  She’s worried about Carmilla, but has no sense of what could possibly be bothering her.

The past few days had been nothing short of, for lack of a better word, magical. She’d never in her life felt this way and she’s almost scared to admit to herself what it could possibly be. Things had been moving quite fast, in fact, she didn’t know Carmilla at all.  She did know she was an excellent kisser and quite talented between the sheets. She shudders ever so slightly just thinking about it.

“I do have quite the affect on people.”

Carmilla’s voice startles her out of her thoughts as she whips around to find her leaning up against the side of the building.

“What? Can you read minds now too?”

“Are you impressed?”

Laura smiles. “Why don’t you find out?” She takes a few steps towards her, but Carmilla moves away from the wall and in the opposite direction.

“Okay, what’s going on with you lately?”

“Nothing, really, it’s nothing.”  She leans against the bannister and stares out into the open yard.  Laura joins her side and stares at her, relentless.

“I might not know you very well, but you’re a terrible liar.  C’mon, you can tell me."

Carmilla turns to her and stares her deep into her eyes.  She places a gentle hand on Laura’s. “Just stay close today, okay?”

Laura lets out a hollow laugh. “Carm, please.  It’s not like I’m going to wander off.  Even if I did, where the hell would I go?”

“Just, please, promise me?”

“Sure, sure. I promise.  If this is some offhand way to get me to spend time with you, you know you could just ask.”

This makes Carmilla roll her eyes, but smile nonetheless.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The day goes by without a hitch.  Carmilla makes sure she has eyes on her at all times, for the most part giving Laura the impression that she’s flirting with her all day.  While she doesn’t mind the sentiment, things were never that simple; she could only wish they were.  The slow burn makes everything ten times worse, however, because Carmilla knows there’s no way in the fiery pits of hell that her mother has given up. The lack of Will on campus also raises her concern; Kirsch had to take his campers for the day.

Dinner rolls around and Carmilla’s only focus is Laura.  For savior type purposes only, of course.

“You’re staring again.”

The voice makes Carmilla jump out of her skin and take her eyes off of Laura for once in a very long while.  LaFontaine cackles and sits down next to her.

“Christ, you scared me.”

“Jumpy, eh? You don’t seem like the type to get so jittery so easily.”

“I’m not. Not normally.” Her eyes are glued once again to Laura who makes her way through the line.

“Damn, not ten seconds after I call you out for staring, there you go ogling away again. You’re not trying to hide anything are you?”

“It’s not what you think it is, trust me.”

LaF just grins knowingly. “Yeah, okay.  Crushes On Humans.”

This gets Carmilla’s attention.  She slowly turns her head to face LaF who has busied herself with her dinner. “What did you say?”

“You, Carmilla Karnstein, are crushing on a human.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true, right?”

“Okay, but why word it as so?”  She knows she’s being pushy and slightly a bit too obvious, but she can’t help it.

“You started off as discrete, you and your brother.  But it became obvious and I’m not a slow learner.  Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

Carmilla can’t help but feel just the slightest weight pulled from her shoulders that someone had figured it out.  “Laura doesn’t know, right?”

LaF shakes their head. “Of course not.  She’s too smitten with you to notice.”

Carmilla raises an eyebrow.  She turns her attention back to Laura who has started to make her way over to their table.

“You can’t say a word. Don’t say anything,” she mumbles to LaF. They simply shrug.

“Hey guys.” Laura’s greeting is filled with innocence and wonder as she takes a seat across from her friends. LaF gives a half-hearted acknowledgement and Carmilla half smiles.  Laura frowns. “Great to see you guys too…”

“Sorry L, long day.” LaF shovels a large helping of mashed potatoes into their mouth. “Full moon tonight, you guys amped?  Their to die for.”

Carmilla groans at the double meaning, her stomach in knots and her food becoming less and less appetizing. 

“You hate full moons? What are you a werewolf?” Laura asks, jokingly.  LaF raises an eyebrow and tries to suppress a grin.

“Something like that,” Carmilla mutters as she plays with her dinner with her fork. She scans the cafeteria like one of the overprotective bodyguards her mother used to assign her when she was younger. Laura catches on.

“You expecting an army of ninjas to kidnap you or something?”  Another joke, but not far from what her mother would do. “Because, not gonna lie, that’d be pretty bad ass.”

Carmilla’s eyes meet Laura’s and she rolls them.  Laura breaks eye contact, laughing to herself, making, by default, Carmilla smile and look down.  LaFontaine looks between the two, mid-bite with a look of near disgust and annoyance on her face.

“God you two are too obvious and too cute, it’s vomit inducing.  I do not want to know what goes on in that bunk.”  She does an overdramatic, fake shudder.  Laura has to do her best to keep the flush of red from taking up residence in her cheeks, but there’s not much she can do. For the first time that day, Carmilla smirks.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

They sit at that spot again, the one Carmilla had taken them when they were lost in the woods with their campers.  The sun has set its course downward and it’s only a matter of minutes before it disappears behind the horizon.  Laura rambles on about some story involving her father and her taking a vacation to Florida, but Carmilla isn’t really listening to the details, but instead just studying every inch of Laura’s face and body as so to have it engrained her head in case this is the last time she ever sees her again.

She’s mesmerized by her carefree nature and the way the tiny wisps of hair fall onto her face, the rest being pulled back by a high ponytail.  She’s passionate about what she’s saying even if it is recounting some silly memory from so many years ago.  The ache in her stomach is nearly unbearable as she considers what will most likely go down before the day is over.

She’d considered running away, trying their best to make a run for it through the woods. She knows it will never work; her mother has eyes everywhere and she can only imagine the pain and wrath she’d face when she were to be caught.  Some part inside her still thinks she can save Laura though, some part inside her still thinks that they’re going to come out of this okay.

“Carm, are you even listening?”

She’s staring again, and she knows it.  She shakes her head out of it and focuses on Laura.  She smiles and scoots closer.

“Of course I’m listening.”

Laura leans her head down to rest on Carmilla’s shoulder.  They stare in silence out at the setting sun.  Everything in this ridiculously picturesque, almost movie-like moment feels perfect.

“I like you,” Laura mumbles. “I like you a lot.”

Carmilla wraps her arm around Laura’s bare shoulder, rubbing it up and down as if to keep the imaginary cold away.  She nuzzles her head onto Laura’s.

“And I know I’ve only known you for a few weeks, days, I don’t know how long, but there’s something about you that I’m just so insanely attracted to and you make me feel safe.”

It catches her off guard a little and hits her like a high-speed train.  She feels _safe_ when she’s around her.  How is she supposed to let her mother and brother do her harm now?  She looks away trying to blink away some stupid tears she feels welling up in her eyes.  Laura frowns, becoming concerned at the silence.  She looks up.

“Oh my God, don’t cry. Holy shit, I made you cry. It wasn’t even that emotional.”

“I’m not crying, Laura.” 

“Yes you are. Oh my God, I know this is like kind of a moment and all, but I just need to document this in time that _I_ made _you_ shed tears.  I made you feel something.”  She’s too ecstatic for this.  It’s definitely ruining the moment.  She pulls out her phone to take a picture. “Hold still.”

“Laura, fuck off.” She waves her middle finger as Laura cackles evilly. 

“Got it. Look.”  She shows Carmilla the picture, eliciting a typical eye roll. She tries to snatch it away but Laura’s too fast and she stuffs it back into her pocket.  “That’s going up on the fridge.”

“I’m honored.” Laura resumes her position snuggled up against Carmilla.

“What’s going to happen after this summer?”

“Huh?”

“You know how summer camp things work.  I might never see you again.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Just don’t think about that.”

“Kind of hard not to.” She looks up at her.  Carmilla becomes stupidly lost in her stare and, that’s it, she’s a goddamn puddle again, all urges at the forefront of her brain and all bets off the table. Fuck her mom.  Fuck Will. 

She leans down to kiss her, skipping the chaste beginnings and tender moments. It’s full of life, passion, and downright lust.  Their mouths move together as one, their lips wasting no time in parting as their tongues meet once again. It’s sloppy, eager. Carmilla wants to kiss away all her problems, hell, maybe even fuck them away.  It wouldn’t be the worst way now.  Carmilla places a hand behind Laura’s neck, dragging it down her spine while moving her kisses from her lips to around her chin and down her neck. Laura elicits a soft moan and smiles, closing her eyes and throwing her head back ever so slightly. She can feel Carmilla’s hands wandering around her upper torso, exploring every inch of her clothed body.

Damn it anyway, clothes.

“Carm, Carm,” Laura whispers.  They’ve missed the sunset now, the lingering last moments of daylight still hanging in the air lighting their surroundings.

“Hmm?” She continues to kiss her neck and shoulders.

“Cabin, bunk. Let’s just move it inside?”

“Is that a double entendre?” she mumbles against her skin, grinning for being so coy. Laura rolls her eyes and laughs quietly.

“Always the witty one. I’m serious.”

Carmilla detaches her lips from Laura and pouts.  She curses herself for pouting like a child.  “Fine, inside.  Let’s go.” Laura’s the first to rise and she helps Carmilla get to her feet.  She kisses her as she stands up and laces her hand with her own. They traipse through the woods back to the campground in near silence, exchanging only a very brief observation here or there.

The campsite is nearly dark now and Carmilla can see someone has already started the campfires for the night.  Laura drags her by her hand up towards their bunk.

“Desert round two, after round one,” Laura says, coyly, marching up their wooden stairs. Carmilla has to hand it to her for her cleverness and how easy it is for her to wind her up around her finger. She’s practically dancing in the palm of her hand.  Fucking whipped to shreds.

Laura opens the screen door and that’s when everything happens so fast.  She’s not even given enough time to comprehend what the hell is going on.  Carmilla, whose senses are usually always pretty on point, takes a minute to reel in what is happening. She frowns, her heartbeat racing, knowing this is the moment she’d been dreading and anticipating all day. It’s a blur; it doesn’t feel real.

“You made my job pretty easy, sis.”

Carmilla stares at Will who now has Laura in his strong grip, one hand firmly covering her mouth, arm wrapped around her shoulders.  The other grips a small knife, holding it to her neck.  Carmilla can hardly bring it upon herself to look at Laura, the fear and despair too much for her to handle.  She tries to regulate her breath, trying so hard to keep a level, calm head.

“We can talk about this Will.  There’s got to be a better way than this.”

“No we can’t. Mother is waiting. She’ll be here within the next few hours.  You know she’s always punctual.”

“Unfortunately so. Will, please.  Aren’t you tired of being mommy’s little bitch?”

Will shakes his head, an evil grin spreading across his face. “Nah, nah.  This will go in the record books as mine. No longer will I be taking the back seat to you.”

Carmilla scoffs. “Please, mother loves me.  I’m her most prized possession.  I’m hard to replace.”

Will snarls at her. “Give me the white pills and I’m gone. Although, I’m sure mother will want you to witness what she has in store for your little pet.”

Laura tries to struggle against Will, but she’s no match against his supernatural strength. She tries to bite into his hand. Carmilla flinches.

“Tsk, tsk. We got ourselves a little fighter here don’t we.  Nothing we can’t handle though, right sis?”

Carmilla can feel the confusion and betrayal radiating from Laura’s direction. She doesn’t know what she can say to make this whole situation seem way less than it actually is. Bottom line, it’s fucked up.

“The pills, Carmilla. I’m getting impatient. Or do you want to see little Miss Sunshine here lose some limbs?  Don’t think mother will care if she’s missing a finger.”

“Stop! Fine, fine.  I’m getting them.  Watch, I’m getting them.  Just don’t hurt her.” She walks carefully to her trunk, keeping her hands in the air and never taking her eyes off the duo. Will watches her like a cat.

“What does it matter if I scratch up her pretty little face now or later?  She’s going to be dead by morning anyway.”

“You don’t know that.” But she knows better and she doesn’t know whom she’s trying to convince.  She reaches into her trunk and pulls out the little baggy carrying two white pills. She tosses it to Will. He pockets them and starts to lead Laura out of the cabin. 

Carmilla feels like every limb is being torn from her body all at once.  Her legs feel like jelly as she tries to follow them out. The night air doesn’t help as much as she wishes and her vision, she knows is going blurry as she tries to focus on the pair heading for the thick of the woods.  She feels light, dizzy; she can’t pass out.

“C’mon sissy, don’t want to fall too far behind now do we?”  His voice is taunting.  She refuses to let that be the last thing she hears as she stumbles with a heavy heart after them, the full moon nearly high in the air.

 


End file.
